In the game in charge of opening the extensive billboard for Martin Luther King Day, the Boston Celtics beat the New Orleans Pelicans (104-92) in a duel with two completely opposite halves.
During the first two quarters, the public attending the TD Garden witnessed the grayest and most blurred version of the Green Pride. The one that claims like eating a guarantee base capable of putting order and criteria to the game of a team that again abused the rinses and the triple.
For their part, the Pelicans took advantage of the absence of Robert Williams to influence the paint again and again through a very inspired Jonas Valanciunas (22 points and 14 rebounds). Al Horford tried to face the Lithuanian but he had enough in the first minutes trying to direct the Celtic ship, being Jaylen Brown (23 points and 8 rebounds) and himself the ones in charge of enduring the downpour. The bench did not offer answers either: zero points and 0 of 8 in field goals at halftime.
An unsuccessful attempt as the Pelicans threatened to break up the game already in the second quarter, at which point they came to enjoy an advantage of up to 18 points that heralded a forceful corrective. However, their legs shook and the deposit was placed in the reserve when they were closest.
Having reached this advantage, the Celtics did not fall apart and little by little they began to unravel the differences thanks to Dennis Schröder (23 points and 8 assists) and, mainly, Jayson Tatum who took over the match in the second half, in the one who scored 21 of his 27 final goals.
Not only did he fuel the attack, but Ime Udoka’s men also closed the paint, matched the battle for the rebound, pressed on defense and controlled losses, which had weighed down the team until then. Thus, the Celtics caught up with their rival at the end of the third quarter to end up overwhelming them in the last, in which they enjoyed an income of 17 points that they would manage until the end without any shock.
This victory allows the Celtics to cling to the play-in positions, while in New Orleans they lose a golden opportunity not to lose sight of that tenth place in the West that, currently, is in the hands of a Portland Trail Blazers that neither They are having their best moment.
(Cover photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
