Deprived of Luke Kornet and Kristaps Porzingis, the Celtics had difficulty overcoming the Pelicans and their fiery Ingram-Williamson tandem. It must be said that Willie Green's men made the perfect start, air conditioning the TD Garden in turns, with CJ McCollum to light the fuse, Brandon Ingram to lead the way and also Herb Jones to artillery from afar. There was notably a 17-3 launched and concluded by CJ McCollum which calmed the assembly (11-22), then an 8-0 completed by the Williamson bulldozer at the start of the second quarter which brought the gap at +17 in favor of the Louisiana franchise (27-44).
Slowly but surely, Boston then began its comeback, relying first on a Jrue Holiday who had been too discreet until then, then on the bursts of his Brown-Tatum pair to get back to -10 at the hour mark. rest (50-60).
Pushed by an increasingly noisy room after the locker room, the C's continued their intensive pressing but New Orleans resisted well. Particularly in the middle of the third quarter, when Jrue Holiday, Al Horford and Sam Hauser lined up 3-point baskets to put Boston back in the lead, Sam Hauser even driving home the point with a dunk in stride in front of a conquered TD Garden (76-73).
Derrick White's Missiles
New Orleans did not panic, and relied on Trey Murphy III and Brandon Ingram to regain the lead at the start of the last quarter (79-87), before giving the ball to Zion Williamson to score twice or create for CJ McCollum (86-94). Under pressure after losing the previous match at home against the Clippers, Boston was able to react by finding the right adjustments to come back and win.
Alongside the essentials Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown who did their share of the job on both sides of the floor, the contribution of Derrick White was undeniable, on his three 3-point missiles in particular to bend the opposing defense, but also on his baskets registered near the circle. It was also on one of his 3-pointers that the Celtics regained the lead and never let go (99-98).
There was an 11-3 then a 7-0 marked by two dunks from a rebellious Jayson Tatum, who also had to pull out all the stops to avoid another disappointment for his team. It was also he who killed the suspense from the free throw line by scoring his last two attempts to ensure the victory, 118-112.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– The Light Came From Derrick White. The victory obviously does not come down to his performance as many players made their contribution to help the Brown-Tatum duo, like Sam Hauser for example, always precious in his role, or even Al Horford. But Derrick White particularly shone in the finale, when Boston finally managed to make the switch, notably with his three 3-point baskets which ended up bringing down the Pelicans. Author of 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, he was the X factor at the end of the match.
– The honor is except for Boston. Undefeated at home after 20 games at TD Garden, the Celtics have let up since mid-January by losing first to defending champion Denver then to the Clippers this weekend. That was already a lot, and the threat of losing a second game in a row at TD Garden was possible after the break. We had to tear ourselves away to avoid it. It's done, now it's time for the Indiana reception this evening with the return of Tyrese Haliburton. Kristaps Porzingis could also be in the mix.
