After an up-and-down stretch that included three straight losses and 4 in six video games, the Boston Celtics is again on a profitable streak and is the primary NBA workforce to achieve 40 victories this season.
Boston seeks its fourth straight triumph in a Sunday afternoon sport towards the visiting Memphis Grizzlies, who’re 23-5 at dwelling and simply 11-16 on the highway.
“I love the fact that our guys play hard regardless and just continue to just execute, execute, execute on both ends of the floor,” Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla mentioned. “Because when we do, we always get a great shot for either ourselves or the guy next to us.”
Despite taking part in with out three starters in Jaylen Brown (facial swelling), Marcus Smart (ankle) and Al Horford (knee), the Celtics led wire-to-wire and earned a 127-116 win Friday over the Charlotte Hornets.
Derrick White scored a career-high 33 factors on the energy of eight of the workforce’s 25 3-pointers and Jayson Tatum led Boston with 41.
The Celtics built-in a contemporary face into the lineup Friday as middle Mike Muscala debuted along with his new workforce only a day after being acquired in a commerce from Oklahoma City. He scored 12 factors in simply 16 minutes, together with making his first 3-point try.
“Man, that’s big time,” Tatum mentioned of his new teammate’s capability to make an instantaneous affect on the scoresheet. “To come to a new team never (having) practiced with us and knock down your first shot … just as a basketball player, I know how good that felt.”
Muscala match proper into the offense in a sport by which the Celtics tied for the third-most 3-point makes in franchise historical past. Muscala made 4 of his eight makes an attempt from behind the arc.
The Grizzlies have gained back-to-back video games following a three-game skid and 1-8 stretch, bouncing again for a 128-107 win Friday towards the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“This was just a product of getting a couple of practices under our belt. A couple of shootarounds,” Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins mentioned. “Guys watching film and craving it.”
Memphis was sizzling from past the arc, capturing 40 p.c from 3-point vary (10 of 25) for under the second time in its previous 12 video games. That was with out newcomer Luke Kennard, the sharpshooter who arrived Friday after being acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers a day earlier.
Ja Morant had 32 factors, 9 assists and 9 rebounds in an analogous complete-game efficiency to his final head-to-head assembly with the Celtics.
“You see how I was shooting today?” Morant mentioned after the sport. “I had to step it up a bit and shoot like (Kennard) a little bit. I told him on the 3 I hit before that half that I felt like him.”
The groups haven’t met since November 7, a 109-106 Boston highway win by which Tatum went for 39 factors, Malcolm Brogdon had 10 rebounds and Smart dished 12 assists.
Morant had 30 factors, eight boards and 9 assists in that sport.
The Celtics has gained eight straight dwelling video games within the sequence.
