The Celtics have played a lot of basketball through the first three weeks of their season.
By the end of Wednesday’s slate of NBA contests, Boston became one of three teams to play 13 games. It did so over 22 days, a stretch that included seven road games and three back-to-back contests. Its grueling schedule perhaps could be one of many reasons why it has failed to close out in clutch moments while leading to a record that is two games shy of a .500 mark.
An opportunity to inch closer to an even threshold presented itself to the Celtics in their first home game in a week, facing a Memphis Grizzlies squad that had twice as many losses as wins over the previous month and just lost its star player.
The Celtics made good on that chance, securing a 131-95 blowout victory against the Grizzlies to improve to 6-7 on the season. Memphis fell to a 4-9 record.
Payton Pritchard scored a game-high 24 points while dishing out nine assists and posting six rebounds. His plus-minus rating finished at a resounding 42 mark, more than any player in Wednesday’s game. His efficiency from the field helped him settled into a groove, knocking down eight of his 15 field goals and five of his 10 3-pointers.
Boston compiled its most effective shooting performance by drilling 50.5% of their field goals and a season-high 41.2% mark from 3-point land, where 10 Celtics made at least one shot. Their shooting splits helped to inflate their assist total, recording a season-high 34 assists. Pritchard’s nine assists led the team, but Anfernee Simons notched seven assists while scoring six points in almost 22 minutes off the bench.
Derrick White, who appeared to be in an offensive slump at the outset of the season, showcased his best 3-point shooting in any game this season. En route to his 20-point showing, White posted a 6-of-11 clip from the floor and a 5-of-10 mark from deep. He took advantage of chances that yielded free throws, nailing all five of his attempts. Jaylen Brown posted an efficient evening with 19 points on an 8-of-16 split from the field while tacking on six assists and six rebounds.
Limiting scoring chances proved vital for Boston, holding Memphis to a 33.7% field goal percentage and 23.3% from behind the arc. Jaren Jackson Jr. was dangerous with 18 points on a 7-of-15 shooting split, but he was the only Memphis player to score 15 or more points. The Grizzlies’ 95 points was the first time they failed to surpass the century mark this season. It was also their first without star point guard Ja Morant, who was ruled out with an ankle injury.