Celtics Reach 20 Wins
With a 116-110 win over the Toronto Raptors, led by none other than the “Jays” who finished the game with a combined 53 points, the Boston Celtics are now the first team to reach 20 wins on the season. The C’s did so in just 25 games.
A sluggish start to the game left the Celtics down 62-56 at half. They rallied by coming out on a 17-7 run to start the third quarter to give them a 73-69 lead. Boston ultimately won the quarter 35-18.
The lead never changed hands again after that. The Celtics marched to their 20th win on the season, and their seventh win in their last eight games.
The Jays Shine Yet Again
MVP candidate Jayson Tatum shined yet again, knocking down five threes en route to 31 points. Tatum also added 12 rebounds and 3 assists to his solid statline.
This was yet another game for Tatum where he put up 30+ points, 10+ rebounds, and 5+ made threes. He now leads the league in such games.
Coming off back to back 30 point games, Jaylen Brown was also huge tonight. He filled the stat sheet up with 22 points to go along with eight rebounds and eight assists. With Malcolm Brogdon out due to an illness, the extra playmaking provided by Jaylen was huge to keep the offense afloat.
Backup Bigs Hold It Down
With Al Horford out on the second night of a back to back, Blake Griffin and Luke Kornet stepped up to play extra minutes.
Both had solid outings. Kornet had 11 points on the night, six of which came in the fourth quarter to help the Celtics extend the lead.
Griffin finished the night with 13 points and eight rebounds, as well as getting a clutch put back late in the fourth to put the Celtics lead out of reach.
Heading West
The Celtics, who own the best record in the league at 20-5, now head west to cap off a tough six game road trip. Tough challenges lie ahead, with four matchups against the Suns, Warriors, Clippers and Lakers. These will prove to be real tests for just how good this Celtics team truly is.
