NBA: Jayson Tatum pours in 30 as Celtics manhandle Nets
Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics drives to the basket past Bruce Brown #1 of the Brooklyn Nets during the first half at Barclays Center on February 24, 2022 in New York City. Adam Hunger/Getty Images/AFP
Jayson Tatum scored 30 points to lead seven Boston players in double figures as the surging Celtics cruised to a wire-to-wire, 129-106 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday in New York.
The Celtics led by as many as 29 and won for the 12th time in 14 games, a stretch in which they produced nine double-digit victories. One of those wins was a 126-91 rout in Brooklyn on Feb. 8, when the Celtics scored the game’s first 14 points.
On Thursday, Tatum scored at least 30 points for the 18th time this season by making 10 of 20 shots. He highlighted his big night with a one-handed dunk over Brooklyn defenders Andre Drummond, James Johnson and Kessler Edwards late in the second quarter and then scored 11 points in the third.
Boston’s Jaylen Brown added 18 points and six assists before appearing to injure his wrist with about 5 1/2 minutes left. Marcus Smart hit five of the Celtics’ 17 3-pointers and contributed 15 points.
Jayson Tatum drops a 30 piece to lead the @celtics to the win in NYC! #BleedGreen@jaytatum0: 30 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST, 4 3PM pic.twitter.com/6iI43Xkzbn
— NBA (@NBA) February 25, 2022
Derrick White chipped in 13 points while Robert Williams III (12 points, 11 rebounds) and Al Horford (11 points, 13 rebounds) posted double-doubles. Grant Williams added 10 points.
Seth Curry scored 22 points for the Nets, who trailed by double digits for the final 41:52 and lost for the 13th time in 15 games. Bruce Brown added 15 points, Edwards had 13, Drummond scored 11 and Cam Thomas had 10.
The Celtics outshot the Nets 54.1 percent to 41.5 percent.
After outscoring the Nets 35-16 in the opening quarter two weeks ago, the Celtics shot 58.8 percent and held a 35-22 lead through the opening 12 minutes.
Boston stretched the lead to 45-24 less than two minutes into the second when Brown converted a reverse layup and a 15-footer on consecutive trips. The Nets briefly got within 12, but the Celtics took a 67-52 lead into halftime after Smart hit a 3-pointer while falling to the court with 32.6 seconds left.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Smart and Tatum extended Boston’s lead to 79-58 with 8:19 left in the third, and the Celtics carried a 97-74 lead into the fourth.
