Ja Morant has become one of the greatest shows in sports right now. From incredible buzzer-beaters to soul-wrenching dunks, he has it all. The young superstar put on a show in a historic arena- TD Garden today. But he wasn’t the only one putting up a show this time. Jayson Tatum said you aren’t going to be the star in my house, and matched Morant bucket for bucket.
Morant had 38 points and 7 assists in the game while Tatum had 37 points, 5 assists, and 6 rebounds. Ultimately it came down to the team performance and Tatum had more help from his teammates than Morant did. The Celtics had 6 players with double-digit scoring while the Grizzlies only had 3.
A major reason the Grizzlies could stay in the game was the Celtics turning the ball over a lot. The Celtics had 14 turnovers to the Grizzlies’ 7 turnovers. Ultimately while Morant and Tatum showed up, the difference was that Tatum’s teammates showed up while Morant’s didn’t. The Celtics move to the 5 seed in the East while the Grizzlies remain the 3rd seed in the Western Conference.
The Celtics were playing without Jaylen Brown who is out due to an ankle injury. The Celtics have come together as a team despite that and won a lot of games. A lot of credit goes to first-time Head coach Ime Udoka who has begun to establish a winning culture in Boston and get his players to play team basketball.
With the loss, the Grizzlies lost the chance to take the 2 seed in the West from the Warriors who had also lost their game against the Mavericks. This is the perfect opportunity for the Grizzlies to go for the Top seed with both Chris Paul and Draymond Green out for the Suns and Warriors respectively. But they are going to have to play team ball and not be dependent on Morant, to get that done.
