Jrue Holiday was one rebound shy of a triple double and recorded his highest point total in a Celtics uniform.
The Celtics remained the only undefeated team in the NBA on Saturday, holding off a scrappy Nets team in a 124-114 victory.
Here are the takeaways.
1. After back-to-back blow-out victories in which the starters sat the entire fourth quarter, the Celtics won on an odd evening in which the Nets never led after a Jayson Tatum 3-pointer with 8:13 remaining in the fourth quarter. Still, Brooklyn kept a stranglehold on the Celtics’ rear bumper throughout the evening and refused to go away despite numerous opportunities to do so which was doubly impressive since the Nets were on the second night of a back-to-back and returned to Brooklyn overnight after narrowly defeating the Bulls on Friday.
The Nets — even without Ben Simmons and Cameron Johnson — were significantly stiffer competition than either the Pacers sans Tyrese Haliburton or the full-strength Wizards. Cam Thomas gave the Celtics fits (27 points, 11-for-24 shooting). Mikal Bridges got hot late to keep them within striking distance. Spencer Dinwiddie recorded a balanced 19-6-6 stat line. Dennis Smith Jr. is a good defender.
The Celtics ground out a road victory against a decent team on a night when they weren’t their best. That’s a solid outcome.
2. Jayson Tatum — who finished with 32 points — scored his 10,000th career point in the second quarter on a genuinely nasty and-one. After a jump ball, Tatum found himself matched up with Thomas, and he turned his back to post up the smaller guard. At the exact moment when Smith Jr. tried to lunge and poke the ball away, Tatum anticipated and spun toward the lane. Thomas pulled his hands back, but Day’Ron Sharpe fouled Tatum as he tossed in a layup.
Much has been made of Tatum’s post-ups with good reason — he’s recording incredibly efficient numbers out of the post, and the looks add a fun new wrinkle to his offense. But the bigger story is how Tatum has embraced physical basketball, and the way his finesse expertise and increasingly strong physique combine to make him a monstrous offensive player.
