BOSTON — Jayson Tatum quickly put his dismal 1-for-18 Monday night behind him by responding with a big game Wednesday.
The Celtics forward dropped 23 points in Boston’s 140-133 win over the Washington Wizards at TD Garden, shooting 45 percent in the paint.
It certainly was quite the turnaround from Monday, which was a rare showing from the 21-year-old. But at the end of the day, he was just happy to see some buckets go in.
“It felt good to see some shots go in,” Tatum said after the game. “Better than 1-for-18.”
Tatum and Co. now will hit the road for their next five games as they look to continue their early-season momentum.
Here are some other notes from Wednesday’s Celtics-Wizards game:
— Boston’s bench was incredible in the win with Carsen Edwards (18) and Brad Wanamaker (10) reaching double-digit points in the win.
“What did Carsen end up with? It sure seemed like a lot,” head coach Brad Stevens said after the game. “I mean, Brad has been great for every time we have put him in all year. He’s had a real steady hand, and it has been great to see Carsen go off there. I thought everybody else had some moments for sure. But ultimately those guys were excellent tonight off the bench.”
Jaylen Brown also chimed in on Edwards’ big night.
“Carsen had a really big game for us,” he said after the game. “He is going to be big for us this year.”
— In total, the Celtics had seven players reach double-figures. But Stevens pointed to getting 32 assists on the night as what is helping his team win games.
“We are trying to move it and you know we have moments and we haven’t been good at that. But tonight, getting 32 assists is a good thing,” he said after the game. “But also, we are balancing that with being appropriately aggressive. … Jaylen is a guy that you can go to against matchups and different pick-and-pop, pick-and-roll opportunities. Jayson you can do that with. Obviously (Marcus) Smart has done some of that for us. Kemba (Walker) is ridiculous at that stuff. … We’ve got to keep sharing it the right way and playing the right way and hopefully we can build off and make shots like we have been recently.”
— The 140 points dropped by Boston were the most a Celtics team has scored since 1992. So, what exactly led to the offensive outburst?
“Just the style of the game,” Brown, who dropped 22 points in the win, said after the game. “The way they play, we let them come in and dictate how the game was going to go. We kind of got into trading baskets instead of getting stops. We pulled out the win, it was ugly, but we got it done. But we’ve got to play Celtic basketball.”
— The Celtics will embark on a five-game road trip beginning Friday against the Golden State Warriors. And Brown believes his team will need everyone — the bench and starting five — to contribute the way they did Wednesday.
“We’ve got to have everybody,” he said. “It’s going to be team wins and we need everybody. For everybody to stay ready will be great for us.”
