Please add the caveat “It’s solely preseason, however . . . ” to the whole lot that follows on this recap. The Boston Celtics kicked off one other contending run with a preseason victory over the James Harden and Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers. Kristaps Porzingis immediately slot in, and he poured in an environment friendly 17 factors on 71% capturing. Tyrese Maxey appears like he’s able to make yet one more leap this season, main Philly tonight with 24 factors, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
Payton Pritchard led all scorers with 26 factors.
The Celtics got here out of the gate instantly with Jayson Tatum (13 factors, 10 rebounds, 8 assists). whipping a go over to Porzingis, who promptly drained a 3-pointer. Sadly, Porzingis was the one starter who seemed actually comfy on the market for a lot of the sport. Jrue Vacation (6 factors, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) was the primary Celtic not named Porzingis or Jaylen Brown (team-high 19 factors on 70% capturing) to attain late within the first quarter.However, , it’s preseason.
One of the best factor about tonight? Nobody bought injured within the sport. It’s going to be a protracted season cringing each time Kristaps Porzingis falls to the ground.
The spotlight of the night time got here on the finish of the primary quarter, with the Celtics down 13. With about three seconds left, Payton Pritchard sped down the courtroom earlier than launching and sinking a deep three-pointer plus the foul to place the Celtics down 9 getting into the second.
The lowlight of the night time got here when Jayson Tatum went for a poster on Jaden Springer halfway by the third quarter just for third-year guard Jaden Springer to stuff his shot in a locker.
Joe Mazzulla seemingly had plenty of enjoyable tonight attempting various things. A wide range of gamers entered the submit at varied instances, together with Jrue Vacation, Jayson Tatum and, after all, Porzingis. It is a dynamic that this crew hasn’t had earlier than, and it’ll be actually enjoyable to see this offense with a number of extra curveballs than in years previous.
Within the third quarter, the Celtics began to actually get attention-grabbing on the market on each ends, with a few defensive stops turning into transition factors on the opposite finish. The protection was fairly meh for many of the night time, however because the Vacation-White-Brown-Tatum-Porzingis lineup took the highlight, they bought cease after cease with both contests on the rim or strips on the perimeter.
Once they’re locked in, this crew has the chops to be a prime, if not the highest, defensive crew within the league. For many of the night time, Porzingis’ size bothered the Sixers fairly considerably, which is an effective signal shifting ahead.
After the highest six subbed out late within the third, the sport became the Payton Pritchard present, main the Cs on a 12-2 run to take management late within the sport. Oshae Brissett additionally stood out in his position, enjoying aggressively on each ends. Brissett pushed down an insane putback dunk that was criminally dominated an offensive foul. A minimum of Lamar Stevens bought one which counted.
The most important takeaway of the night time? The Kornet Kontest nonetheless works.
The Celtics will hit the hardwood once more tomorrow night time towards the New York Knicks within the uncommon preseason home-road back-to-back, although I doubt many (if any) of the regulars will probably be suiting up.
