The Celtics started off 2022 with a matchup against the Orlando Magic, with Dennis Schroder back and both Robert Williams and Jayson Tatum out. Boston launched a late game comeback to push it to overtime, winning 116-111. Jaylen Brown was massive for Boston, dropping 50 PTS on the night (21 in the 4th Quarter) as he joined Jayson Tatum, Larry Bird and Kevin McHale as the only players in franchise history with 50 PTS and 10 REB in a game.
“We needed to win,” said Brown. “No way we could’ve lost this game. It wouldn’t have been good.” Brown also said that the team wanted to put their struggles behind them and to turn a new leaf in 2022. “We’re trying to put 2021 behind us. It’s a new year….we gotta make a push to win some games here, and I think we can do it.”
“We let the game come to us,” said Marcus Smart in his postgame interview. “It wasn’t pretty. It was a little ugly. But we came out with the win and that’s because we kept our composure and we kept with it.”
Smart also praised Brown’s effort and development, saying “the growth with JB is very real…I know it might not seem like it, but me and JB are closer than people probably think. We talk all the time, just constantly trying to keep his confidence up.”
Join A. Sherrod Blakely, Bobby Manning, Jimmy Toscano, and host John Zannis as we break it all down in The Garden Report Postgame Show.
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