Thursday, March 28

Celtics roll past Grizzlies in regular-season finale, grab No. 2 seed in Eastern Conference – The Boston Globe


MEMPHIS — Across the NBA on Sunday, top teams were holding stars out of season finales in order to preserve them for the playoffs, influence their seeding, or both.

But for the Celtics, it was business as usual against the undermanned Grizzlies. Coach Ime Udoka has been consistent in his belief that his top players would benefit from one last good run together, especially with a week off looming while the play-in tournament is being held. He was fine with whatever happened elsewhere.

When the Bucks, who sat all of their top players, lost to the Cavaliers earlier Sunday it created new possibilities for Boston. With a win against Memphis, the Celtics would secure the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference.

But there was some question about whether that would be ideal, considering Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and the Nets are lined up as a potential first-round opponent. The Celtics were seemingly unconcerned about that possibility, though, as they pummeled the shorthanded Grizzlies, 139-110.

Boston will face the winner of Tuesday’s play-in game between the Nets and Cavaliers in the opening round. The Celtics would clearly prefer a Cleveland upset, but Brooklyn still has obvious holes, especially on defense. Also, by moving into second spot the Celtics would have home-court advantage in a potential conference semifinals matchup against third-seeded Milwaukee.

The Celtics, Bucks, and 76ers finished in a three-way tie for second at 51-31, but Boston owned the tiebreaker.

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Memphis, which has been locked into the No. 2 spot in the West for some time, held seven of its top eight scorers out Sunday. The remaining Grizzlies were scrappy, but woefully overmatched.

The Celtics led by as many as 26 points in the first half despite committing 12 turnovers. And the lopsided score ensured it would at least be a light night for Boston’s stars, even though they were among the few across the league actually playing.

Jayson Tatum finished with 31 points and nine rebounds in just 26 minutes, and Jaylen Brown added 18 points.

Observations from the game:

▪ Marcus Smart takes pride in sniffing out what an opponent has planned. In the first quarter he barked out a Grizzlies play call before it had been put in motion. Memphis forward Kyle Anderson looked over to his team’s bench, smiling, as if to say “What’s this guy’s deal?” Smart took an inadvertent shot to the mouth from burly Memphis forward Xavier Tillman moments after that. But he wiped away the blood and stayed in the game.

▪Udoka has said several times in recent weeks that he is focused on helping new acquisitions Daniel Theis and Derrick White get comfortable with the team’s scheme down the stretch, and that mission has been accomplished. Both were productive in the first half, with Theis registering 7 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists, and White adding 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Theis threw a pretty alley-oop to Tatum in the first quarter and followed that up with an acrobatic tip-in. During one second-quarter sequence, White drilled a 3-pointer and then rushed up court and converted a 3-point play.

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▪ For much of the first half the Celtics weren’t crisp. They committed 12 turnovers and had some bad reach-in fouls. But their hot shooting made up for those minor issues. Boston made a blistering 62.8 percent of its shots in the first half and went 11 for 22 from behind the 3-point line. Memphis had no answer for Tatum, who mostly did as he pleased. His best moment came late in the second quarter, when he drilled a step-back 3-pointer from the right arc as he was fouled. He went to the break with 26 points on 9 for 11 shooting, and the Celtics took a 72-49 lead.


Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach.



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