The Boston Celtics fell to the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night by a final score of 115-109. This game was tightly contested for most of the duration, until the Pelicans made key stops in the final minutes to secure the victory.
The game was back and forth for the most part, both teams were trading baskets left and right. defense was a non factor for both teams as both teams hit a array of three point shots thought the game.
The Pelicans got most of their points from battling on the glass and scoring inside the paint. as for the Celtics their scoring came from the perimeter shots and kicking out to the corner. This game was a game of runs as the Pelicans went into the half on a 12-0 run to make it 64-55.
In the third quarter, the Celtics gained momentum cutting the Pelicans lead to two 64-62. The Celtics cleaned things up by getting out in transition and playing much better on the defensive end.
The Pelicans got much colder from the field just shooting 50% from the field in the third quarter. The Celtics were guided by Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker that caused this mumtum swing in this this run.
In the fourth quarter, to start the fourth quarter all momentum shifted towards the Pelicans, as they went on a 7-0 run to make it 98-88. midway in the fourth quarter the Pelicans continued to dominate the Celtics on both sides of the floor as the lead grew to 100-89.
In the final minutes the Celtics went on a 12-0 run making the score 110-107 Pelicans, including Jayson Tatum’s big three with 50 seconds. The momentum was sifting towards the Celtics until with 30 seconds remaining Marcus Smart would get ejected over a controversial foul call.
The Celtics would eventually had to foul to stop the clock. The Pelicans would add on five points at the foul line, while the Celtics would only score two points in the remaining moments.
The Celtics five players in double figures. Leading the way for them was Jayson Taum with 34 points. Kemba Walker posted 23, while Marcus Smart added 15 points.
As for the bench scoring for the Celtics Luke Kornet had 10 points, and Payton Pritchard had 11 points.
Evan Fournier really struggled though in his Celtics debut, as in 32 minutes he went 0-10 shooting.
The Pelicans had five players score in double figures. Leading the way for the Pelicans was Zion Williamson with 28 points, while Brandon Ingram had 25 points. Eric Bledsoe had 13 points on 4-9 shooting. Also Nickeli Alexander Walker finished with 17 points.
The Celtics fall back to below .500 on the year at 23-24. They’ll take on the Magic Wednesday at 7:30.