Boston Celtics cruise to 109-98 victory over Memphis Grizzlies


The Boston Celtics were in-sync in their 109-98 win against the Memphis Grizzles, and kept a big lead throughout the entirety of the game. 

The Celtics feasted the entire first half. They trailed for the first few minutes, but then something clicked and and they took off.

Kyrie Irving was eating, and when Kyrie eats, the entire team does too. Irving finished the first quarter with 11 points on 3-of-3 shooting from deep and 4 assists. Jaylen Brown tallied 7 points and went 2-for-2 from three point range. Terry Rozier and the bench got theirs as well. The bench as a whole dropped 11 points. 6 of those points came from Terry on his 2-of-2 from deep.

The team hit eight of their eleven attempted three-pointers in the quarter.

The Cs found plenty of open shots in the first, and it's because their ball movement was top-notch.


The defense was there as well. Oh Marcus, how I've missed you.

Oddly enough, Jayson Tatum and Al Horford went a combined 0-3, scoreless, and in the quarter.

At the end of one, the Celtics were up 32-24.

The feast continued in the second quarter.

The bench continued to produce, and saw much court-time in the half.


In just under eight minutes of play, Daniel Theis put up 8 points and 3 rebounds.

Terry Rozier remained perfect from the floor, and ended the half 4-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 from deep with 12 points. His only inaccuracy came at the free throw-line, where he hit 2 of his 3 attempts.

Semi Ojeleye played for over eleven minutes in the half, and while he didn't take a shot in the entire twenty-four minutes, he remained effective on the defensive end. Here's a would-be Tommy Point that led to a Rozier slam.

Kyrie continued to explode and dropped an additional 10 points in the second quarter, making his halftime total 21. He'd pair that with 4 rebounds and 4 assists on 7-of-10 shooting. Here's one of his five three-pointers.

Some dangles:

How is he so good!?

Al Horford also got on the board with a bucket.

Celtics go into the half up 67-41. A 26 point lead.

The second half was a lot of the same. Absolute dominance by the Celtics.

The same ball movement:

The same Marcus Smart factor:

But there was at least one difference between this half and the one prior: Jayson Tatum scored a basket. About three minutes into the third quarter, he drained a three pointer.

Kyrie went into the fourth with 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Marcus Morris had 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists, and the Cs ended the third quarter with a 17 point lead, 86-69.

Then the fourth quarter came and went. Jaylen Brown spun around someone on the fast break and jammed it with authority.
At their best, the Celtics led by 28 points. Along with Kyrie, four other Cs' players scored in double figures: Terry Rozier with 15, Marcus Morris with 13, Jaylen with 13, and Daniel Theis with 12.

Final score: 109-98.
Numbers to notice:

Kyrie Irving: 25/6/5 on 8-of-13 shooting from field, 5-of-8 from deep
Jaylen Brown: 13/4/3
Marcus Morris: 13/8/2
Terry Rozier: 15/4/1 on 5-of-8 shooting
Daniel Theis: 12 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

Bench: 52 points.

Rebounds:44 Boston 40 Memphis
Offensive Rebounds: 9 Boston 5 Memphis

Field Goal:45.3%
Three-Point: 32.4%

3rd straight win

I wonder if the All-Star break was all this team needed to get things back on track, or if it was something else...

Follow Sean Waukewan

Photo: AP Photo
Photo 2: Getty Images

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