The Celtics took care of business in their first-ever in-season tournament game, defeating the Brooklyn Nets 121-107 at TD Garden. Boston got good contributions from all of the main rotational pieces in what turned out to be a very efficient performance.
Jaylen Brown (28 PTS, 5 AST) got it started for the C's, scoring 12 points in the opening quarter to get the offense going. On a night where Jayson Tatum (23 PTS, 10 REB) didn't have his best stuff, the Celtics got great minutes from Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard, and Luke Kornet to take some of the load off. The bench scored 37 points on the night in arguably their best showing this season.
It was incredibly encouraging to see Pritchard get going, scoring 13 points and grabbing 4 offensive rebounds in his 30 minutes of playing time. Pritchard is a crucial piece for the Celtics this year, and after signing a 4-year extension this offseason, he needs to give Boston consistent production off the bench moving forward.
The win takes Boston to 6-2 on the season and 3-0 at home. The Celtics currently sit in 2nd place in the East with 74 games left. Boston will have a quick turnaround as they take on the Toronto Raptors tomorrow night at TD Garden.
