BOSTON — The Celtics welcomed Marcus Smart back to TD Garden on Saturday night for a good old East-West clash with the Grizzlies, and right from the start one thing was clear: Memphis showed up ready to play.
With no Al Horford, who was ruled out with a left big toe sprain, and just nine minutes of Sam Hauser logged, due to right adductor tightness, the Celtics were immediately put to the test. Nothing new for Joe Mazzulla’s squad which has already endured its fair share of adverse scenarios, and this time, Boston again, figured it out.
The Celtics, now 19-5, were sent off with their third loss at home this season while the Grizzlies improved to 15-8.
Here are three studs and three duds from Boston’s 127-121 loss to Memphis:
STUDSJrue HolidayScoring became an abundant struggle for the Celtics, who only managed to put 27 points up on the scoreboard in the first and second quarters, but without Holiday the deficit could’ve grown much uglier. Holiday scored a team-leading 23 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists and a steal.
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Ja MorantThe franchise cornerstone himself put on a show for Memphis and didn’t fear the defending champs at all, finishing with a game-high 32 points, slicing through Boston’s defense like a deli chef. Morant complied highlight play after highlight play with wizard-like finishes at the rim to walk away shooting 11-of-20 from the field with nine rebounds and nine assists to nearly complete a triple-double masterpiece.
Payton PritchardIt was a night of redemption for Pritchard as the undersized guard was fresh off a disappointing and uncharacteristic 0-point performance against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday. Pritchard left his 24-minute dud in the rearview mirror and bounced back, giving the Celtics 21 points off the bench while sinking six 3-pointers in the process.
DUDSMarcus SmartSmart’s first return to Boston as an active member of the Grizzlies started as expected. The former nine-year Celtics guard checked in during the first quarter, greeted with a massive round of applause from TD Garden’s home crowd, but Smart couldn’t follow it up with a performance to rattle his old Celtics teammates.
The 30-year-old finished with three points on 1-for-11 shooting.
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Jaylen BrownEfficiency has been a problem that’s plagued Brown several times early on this season, and the trend continued on Saturday night. Brown committed a game-high five turnovers while contributing 22 points of offense with three rebounds and six assists. Ball protection played its factor in lending Memphis a helping hand as the Grizzlies scored 24 points off 13 Celtics turnovers, explaining the nail-biting race to the finish line.
Boston’s free-throw shootingIt’s hard to win on any night when free scoring opportunities are squandered and the Celtics had to learn that the hard way. Boston missed nine free throws to record a season-low 67.9% charity stripe performance, hampering the team’s ability to put together any sort of scoring gap throughout the night.