Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown explain how Celtics find rhythm no matter who has hot hand
"We always talk about respecting each other's space. At any given time we could have two to three advantages, there's no really wrong answer."
The Celtics’ dominance over the Eastern Conference continued on Saturday with a 116-102 win over the New York Knicks in which Boston shot 56.8 percent collectively from the field.
At one time early in the fourth quarter, the Celtics had a team shooting percentage north of 70 percent. Everyone in the lineup was firing on all cylinders and six reached double figures scoring.
Following the decisive win, both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown weighed in on how the Celtics play so well off each other and can find a rhythm no matter who has the hot hand.
On Saturday, Brown was Boston’s leading scorer with 30 points. Kristaps Porzingis scored 22, and Tatum posted 19 with six assists. Nobody on the team cares about their individual stat line, though. They’re all focused on winning basketball games.
“We got so many good players on our team,” Tatum said. “We always talk about respecting each other’s space. At any given time we could have two to three advantages, there’s no really wrong answer. It’s just about respecting each other’s space and understanding that it’s a rhythm game, it’s going to come back to you eventually.”
Brown echoed that sentiment during his postgame press conference Saturday.
“I think we’ve been great at it all year … identifying mismatches, playing the game through each other,” Brown said. “Everybody has sacrificed a little bit, and we all just play the game the way it’s supposed to be played. I think we’ve been pretty consistent in that.”
The word sacrifice has been thrown around this Boston team all season. With so much talent, a certain amount of sacrifice needed to be made for the unit to run smoothly. Through 57 regular season games, the Celtics have proved they can sacrifice individual stats for wins.
Arguably nobody on the roster has sacrificed more than Jrue Holiday, who averaged 19.3 points per game last season in Milwaukee, and is only averaging 13 points per game in Boston. However, he still impacts the game offensively while being a defensive anchor for the Celtics.
Boston (45-12) has an eight-game lead in the East over the No. 2 Cavs (36-19) and has by far the highest winning percentage in the NBA (.789).
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com