BOSTON — Six different players scored double-digits while all 12 who touched the floor posted points as the Boston Celtics ran away with a 119-95 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night at the TD Garden.
The Celtics recorded a noteworthy 32 assists on their 45 field goals in the decisive win. The ball movement brought the balanced scoring, and the balanced scoring gave the hosts their second dominant win in a row.
“You can feel the last two games, the way the ball is ripping around, that’s the way we have to be,” Boston head coach Brad Stevens said after the game. “Because there are going to be moments, and certainly we’re going to have some matchups that we can take advantage of, but at the end of the day, for us to be the best version of ourselves, it’s got to be a group effort on both ends, complimenting each other and accentuating each others’ strengths, and I’ve been encouraged by that the last two games.”
Jayson Tatum impressed teammates and coaches alike as he led all scorers with 23 points on 9-for-18 shooting from the field. Daniel Theis, thanks in part to a trio of 3-pointers, added 14 points of his own on 5-for-7 shooting. Enes Kanter finished with 13 points of his own while both Gordon Hayward and Marcus Smart chipped in 12.
Kemba Walker was the lone starter who did not finish in double figures as he concluded with eight points on 2-for-9 shooting. Walker, however, added four assists, which was second on the team to Smart (six).
“The special thing about this team is multiple guys can have huge nights,” Walker said. “It just makes the game so much easier for everybody.”
The Celtics combined to shoot 50.6 percent from the floor (45-for-89) including 43.8 percent from behind the arc (14-for-32). As a team, the Cs tallied an impressive 32-to-9 assist-to-turnover ratio.
“It’s really contagious as well,” Walker said of the ball movement. “We have so many talented guys on this roster who can make plays. So, as long as you’re playing together and making the game easy for each other, it just helps everybody.”
The Celtics will return to action when they travel to Orlando on Friday.
