This season, the Boston Celtics have not failed to dominate a few areas of the game. Third quarter is one of them.
Boston had the eighth-highest third-quarter net rating in the NBA going into Sunday night’s game in San Antonio. It’s safe to say that after a convincing victory over the Spurs, they’ll be rising in those rankings.
The Celtics dominated San Antonio with 40 points in the third quarter, their second-highest scoring quarter of the year. From the beginning of the frame to the very conclusion, it was an assault, and we mean that in the most literal sense.
The C’s opened the session with back-to-back buckets from Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Brown scored after grabbing an offensive rebound and moving fast to
a fluid fade away from the line of free throws. Tatum then made a 3-pointer from the left wing to give the Celtics a 17-point lead.
From then on, Boston did not slow down, finishing the quarter with a 53.3 percent shooting percentage from the field. Just in front of the buzzer, Payton Pritchard produced another stunning fadeaway. After a Spurs make, he immediately gained possession of the ball in transition and, with 0.2 seconds remaining, he fired a fadeaway over Cedi Osman’s extended hand. Every player on the club leaped from his seat in joy after Pritchard made the shot from the left baseline, just in front of Boston’s bench.
The Cs must have realized at that point that they were winning.
During those time, Boston outscored San Diego by up to 30 points while limiting
On 40.9 percent shooting from the opposite end of the court, Antonio was held to only 23 points. The Celtics led 105-76 going into the fourth quarter and easily won 134-101.
Derrick White is still very much on the rise.
Despite playing only little than 25 minutes on Sunday night, the seventh-year guard—who should unquestionably be selected for his first All-Star game this season—hit his season scoring average exactly on target. With just 11 shots in the game, White finished with 17 points. To reach his scoring total, he made seven of those connections and went 3-for-6 from long range.
Maybe the loudest dunk of White’s career was one of those buckets. With 5:46 remaining in the third quarter, Jaylen Brown stole a Spurs outlet pass and sent it to White, who finished with an unopposed, right-handed slam. White, who is usually polite, took an additional moment to rejoice by glancing at Boston’s
bench before giving Brown a five-star salute and moving to the other end of the court to play defense.
In his more than twenty-five minutes of action, White added two rebounds and five assists to his box score. During his playing time, Boston scored 24 points more than the Spurs.
Boston tried 12 free throws compared to Boston’s 17 made.
In the more over 29 minutes that Kristaps Porzingis played, the C’s outscored San Antonio by 33 points. He ended with nine rebounds, a team high, and 14 points.
Luke Kornet scored 12 points to lead all substitutes.
Boston’s starting five all had plus/minus ratings at least plus-17 at the end.
With just 11 shots, Derrick White scored 17 points in all.
Each of Jayson Tatum, Kornet, and Porzingis blocked two shots.
With 22 points, Devin Vassell led San Antonio.
With 21 points, Victor Wembanyama trailed closely behind him.
Every club contributed at least 28 assists, with San Antonio contributing 28 and Boston 29.
There were only 11 turnovers by the Celtics.
With seven assists, Payton Pritchard was the game’s leader.
Jaylen Brown scored 24 points, while Jaylen Tatum scored 25.
Boston took the lead early on and went on to lead by as much as 37 points.
It’s crucial, in my opinion, to approach the third quarter with a prepared mindset. We did a good job wrapping up the first half, and we just kept going after that.”
- Derrick White on the impressive third quarter from Boston
