Coach lauds ‘taken for granted’ superstar after 38-pt explosion; Embiid injury worry: NBA Wrap
In a 118-101 NBA victory at Indianapolis on Saturday, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 69 points, and the Boston Celtics once again shut down the formidable Indiana Pacers offense. The league-leading Celtics ended Indiana’s six-game winning streak with a season-low number of points thanks to Tatum’s 38 points and Brown’s 31.
Boston, who restricted the Pacers to their previous season low in points in their 155-104 win on November 1, were dialled in defensively, holding the Pacers to 17 points in the first quarter. But the Celtics suffered an early blow when Kristaps Porzingis exited in the first quarter with an eye laceration and the Pacers clawed back.
Aided by 18 Celtics turnovers — 12 of them in the first half — the Pacers chipped away at a 16-point deficit and trailed 58-49 at halftime.
Before the fourth quarter, the Pacers, who had already eliminated the Celtics from the NBA in-season tournament in December, had narrowed the gap to 84-81, but the Celtics surged ahead in the last frame.Tatum made eight three-pointers this season, which is half of the 16 made by the Celtics. He also had six assists and 13 rebounds. His superstar is so good that, in the words of Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, he “gets taken for granted.”
Tatum praised his team’s defensive play while pointing out that the Pacers lead the league in scoring. Tatum remarked, “We know they can put up 160.” “That offense is among the best in the league.” They play quickly. They pass the ball between them. When visiting Indiana, you must be locked in because they are capable of shooting.
With twenty points off the bench, Bennedict Mathurin led the Pacers. Tyrese Haliburton contributed 17 points, 7 assists, and 5 steals. When the teams play again on Monday, Tatum stated he anticipates it will be even more difficult to stop the most potent offense in the league. It will be difficult, he said. “You can be certain that they will make changes. We must look for areas where we can improve. It resembles a road playoff series.
The Celtics had a perfect night overall because, in addition to winning, their two main Eastern Conference rivals suffered shocking upset losses. Despite Joel Embiid’s knee swelling keeping him out of the starting lineup, the Sixers were still -5.5 favorites over the 17–20 Utah Jazz. Utah, on the other hand, took control of the game early on and won easily by 11 points, their fifth road victory of the year.
Jordan Clarkson (18 points) and Walker Kessler (10 points) off the bench helped the Jazz, who were led by guard Collin Sexton (22 points, 10 assists) and forward Lauri Markkanen (33 points, 13 rebounds).
The Sixers had suffered their second straight defeat after being thrashed by the Knicks by almost 40 points the previous night. jusMilk waukee was also greatly favored to defeat the Rockets, but they were defeated 112-108 in spite of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 48 points.
Even though the “Greek Freak” was effective from the field (16/25) and fouled out a staggering 21 times, the Rockets managed to pull off one of their best victories of the remarkable season in spite of this and their severe shortage of players.
