Boston Celtics become first NBA team to reach 30 wins with win over New Orleans Pelicans

CNN
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The Boston Celtics became the first NBA team this season to reach 30 wins after beating the New Orleans Pelicans 125-114 at Boston’s TD Garden on Wednesday night, well behind the team’s stars’ combined 72 points. , Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. .

Brown scored a season-high 41 points and 12 rebounds while Tatum had 31 points and 10 rebounds as the Celtics won their fourth straight game.

Brown specifically attacked the mid-range Pelicans, crediting extra muscle added in the offseason for allowing him to deal with contact with bigger opponents, as he makes a concerted effort not to settle for attempts in depth.

“I think I can get to the rim at a good pace this year,” Brown told reporters afterward, according to the Celtics’ website. “I really want to continue like this.

“I don’t want to let the defense get away with it, but I feel good with a lot of shots that I took on three. Some of them fell, some didn’t. But I still think I’m going to be looking to hit the basket a lot more, for sure, just for the rest of the year.

Celtics striker Al Horford reiterated that point: “When (Brown) drives, I feel like people feel it.

“When he hits you when he’s driving, it’s real. So it’s good to see him playing at that level and to have decided that he’s going to attack the paint.

It was Brown’s sixth 40-point game of his career, moving him past Sam Jones and Isaiah Thomas for the sixth-most in Celtics history.

Along with Tatum, the two wingers have become the driving force behind Boston’s recent success.

The team reached the NBA Finals last season, ultimately losing to the Golden State Warriors, and is one of the best in the league again this year.

By both scoring at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in the same game, Brown and Tatum became the first Celtics players to reach that stat line since Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker in 2001.

Drafted year after year — Brown was drafted with the No. 3 pick in the 2016 draft and Tatum was selected with the No. 3 pick in 2017 — they have built an understanding of dissecting defenses together.

“They just keep growing before our eyes,” Horford said of the star duo after the win. “They feed off each other, and that’s what really drives our team.”