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, due to right adductor tightness, the Celtics were immediately put to the test. The Celtics took a slim fourth-quarter lead, but ultimately were were sent off with their third loss at home this season while the Grizzlies improved to 15-8. The Celtics now stand at 19-5.
Here are three studs and three duds from Boston’s 127-121 loss to Memphis:
STUDS
Jrue Holiday
Scoring became an abundant struggle for the Celtics, who only managed to put 27 points up on the scoreboard each 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.
Ja Morant
The 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 compiled 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 Pritchard
It was a night of redemption for Pritchard as the undersized guard was fresh off a disappointing and uncharacteristic zero-point performance against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday. Pritchard left his 24-minute dud in the rearview mirror and bounced back, giving the Celtics 22 points off the bench while sinking six 3-pointers in the process.
DUDS
Marcus Smart
Smart’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.
Jaylen Brown
Efficiency has been a problem that’s plagued Brown several times early on this season, and the trend continued 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 14 Celtics turnovers, explaining the nail-biting race to the finish line.
Boston’s free-throw shooting
It’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.
