The Boston Celtics ran into a brick wall on Wednesday night, and they were forced to recover in real time. An injury-plagued Memphis Grizzlies squad, with 11 guys listed on their injury report, blitzed the Celtics with pace, hustle, and impressive defensive principles.
Tuomas Iisalo had his guys ready to play. It wasn’t perfect. A few guards got stuck on Boston’s big men in the paint. But for the most part, their defensive intensity disrupted Boston’s offensive flow.
Payton Pritchard counteracted that reality in the first quarter. He was the Celtics’ best source of offense, thriving in isolation. In the first quarter alone, he had 10 points, two rebounds, and one assist on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting from deep.
Alongside him, Jaylen Brown managed to force his way inside, though he shot just 4-of-11 from the field in the first half (but 6-of-6 from the free-throw line). Jayson Tatum, meanwhile, started the game 0-of-8 from the floor.
Boston did have an inherent advantage on the offensive glass. The tallest active player for the Grizzlies on Friday night was 6-foot-7, so Neemias Queta and Luka Garza were able to find success inside. The Celtics grabbed 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, totaling 14 second-chance points.
The Grizzlies’ offense was much more spread out. In the first quarter, five different players made at least two shots, and by halftime, Tyler Burton led the way with 14 points off the bench.
Memphis did a great job of sending extra pressure and taking away the easiest pass for Brown or Tatum to make. This slowed down the Celtics’ offense and forced a few turnovers, but Boston also got in its own way.
Slow-paced offense, missed layups, and sloppy turnovers helped the Grizzlies get out in transition and take advantage of the Celtics’ mistakes.
That trend carried over into the third quarter.
The one-point lead Boston brought into the third quarter quickly faded away as the Grizzlies took a small lead of their own. They were outrunning the Celtics, getting easy shots in the paint, and Boston looked a step behind the eight-ball.
Cam Spencer led the Grizzlies’ third-quarter charge. Memphis employed some great ball pressure that helped them get out in transition on the other end, but Spencer’s shot-making was spearheading their efforts. He and Dejon Jarreau were flowing nicely on offense.
Brown did his best to lift Boston’s offense, and the Celtics’ offensive rebounding continued to find success, but the third quarter was all Grizzlies.
Spencer and Jarreau combined for 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor and 3-of-3 shooting from deep.
The fourth quarter started ugly. Ty Jerome nailed two ridiculous threes over Boston’s defense. Joe Mazzulla called an early timeout, and that’s when Derrick White came flying in to save the day.
White had been cold the entire night. He couldn’t get much to fall. But he went on a personal scoring run to help the Celtics regain their footing.
The three-man combination of White, Garza, and Baylor Scheierman was
