The Boston Celtics were without both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for the first time this season on Tuesday night against the lowly Brooklyn Nets.
It took the Celtics a half to adjust to not having their franchise cornerstones on the court.
But the Celtics looked more like themselves after halftime to take a 104-96 win over the Nets at TD Garden. The Celtics now own a 50-19 record while the Nets dropped to 23-46.
The Celtics scored a season-low 44 points in the first half as they shot 35.9% from the field and 25% from 3-point range. But with Tatum (right knee tendinopathy) and Brown (right knee posterior impingement) sidelined, other steps up over the final 24 minutes, including getting a sensational spark from a Celtics rookie.
Here are three studs and three duds from the shorthanded Celtics taking care of business:
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STUDS
Baylor Scheierman
The rookie wing had the best showing of his young career, and the Celtics needed it. Scheierman came off the bench to net a career-high 20 points — in only 16 minutes — on 7-for-8 shooting, including hitting 6-of-7 from 3-point range. Scheierman had more 3-pointers on the night than he did in his entire NBA career up to this point.
Scheierman’s most notable bucket came to end the third quarter when he drilled a deep 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded. He also drained back-to-back triples in the fourth quarter, including one 32 feet from the basket, in the fourth quarter to give the Celtics the lead. Scheierman also turned in several hustle plays as he finished with three rebounds, two steals and an assist.
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Kristaps Porzingis
The Celtics leaned on Porzingis in just his second game back from an eight-game absence due to a mysterious illness. The 7-foot-2 center set the tone for the Celtics by scoring Boston’s first seven points of the game. Porzingis went on to score a game-high 25 points on an efficient 9-for-13 shooting in 29 minutes. He also grabbed 13 rebounds, dished out three assists and recorded three blocks in a solid all-around performance.
Jrue Holiday
Just call Holiday Mr. Steady. He again didn’t do anything flashy and didn’t have the most efficient shooting night, but made enough savvy veteran plays to make sure the Celtics came out on top. Holiday scored 12 points to go along with a game-high eight assists, six rebounds and three steals.
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DUDS
Al Horford
The veteran center was practically invisible in his 32 minutes on the floor. That tends to happen at times for Horford at this point in his terrific career. Horford took only five shots and scored four points in the win. While he didn’t provide much in the scoring department, Horford did contribute six assists and five rebounds.
Torrey Craig
Craig has been a non-factor since joining the Celtics in early February. He has had his chances to contribute, too, but the veteran wing just hasn’t took advantage of them. Tuesday night was another example of that with Tatum and Brown out. Craig just got eight minutes, though, and didn’t do much with them. He missed both shots he took and hit a pair of free throws to finish with two points.
Derrick White
Don’t let White’s 18 points fool you. It wasn’t a terrible showing from White, but certainly not his best, either. He made only 6-of-19 shots and went 3-for-11 from deep. He chipped in four assists and five rebounds, but also turned the ball over four times.
Featured image via Brian Fluharty/Imagn Images
