Boston Celtics: Game grades for first regular season win in the bubble

The Boston Celtics were able to take down the Portland Trailblazers in their second regular-season game of the season restart.

If at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again. Honoring the words of the late great Aliyah, the Boston Celtics were able to pick up a victory on their second try during the NBA’s regular-season seeding game restart against the Portland Trailblazers in a Sunday afternoon showdown in the Lake Buena Vista Bubble in Walt Disney World.

In the C’s second consecutive nationally televised game, Jayson Tatum bounced back, Jaylen Brown once again hit key shots late, and Boston withstood a fourth-quarter onslaught by Damian Lillard to stave off what would have been their second straight defeat to kick off the seeding schedule.

At one point, Boston held a 21-point lead and mid-way through the third quarter, this seemed like a foregone conclusion. With Daniel Theis mysteriously on the bench until crunch time, the Blazers were able to stage an epic comeback and even held the lead with under five minutes left.

It was the heroism of the “Jay’s” that ultimately led to the Boston Celtics wrapping this game up with a nice bow.

Here are the Houdini’s post-game grades:

Jayson Tatum’s grade: A-

The first couple minutes of Sunday’s contest against Portland started off eerily similar to Friday’s reopener against Milwaukee: Tatum couldn’t hit a shot. Luckily, midway through the second quarter, he had already eclipsed his point total from the opener.

Tatum racked up 21 first-half points, and while he wasn’t as aggressive in the second half, he ended up with 34 points to go along with a team-high eight assists and four rebounds.

Jaylen Brown’s grade: A

Jaylen Brown, for the second straight game, topped his season average of 20 points per game. Brown finished with 30 points and hit big shot after big shot in the fourth quarter, including a critical 3-pointer that put the team up six with under 30 seconds left in the game.

He ended up 4-6 from the 3-point line with two steals.

Gordon Hayward’s grade: A

Gordon Hayward is quietly putting together an impressive bubble performance. He had an unsung 22 points, eight rebounds, and three assists with a team-high +9 in 37 minutes Sunday afternoon.

He hit all six of his free throws, four of his five 3-point attempts, and ended up 6/10 overall.

Kemba Walker’s grade: A

Once again, Kemba Walker impressed in limited minutes. Following up on his 16 points in 19 minutes from Friday, Walker scored 14 points in his 22 minutes and missed just one shot.

Marcus Smart’s grade: C-

Marcus Smart was one member of the Boston Celtics who regressed from the season opener. He didn’t convert on a single shot and a -4 in his minutes being torched by Damian Lillard when he was on the floor.

Daniel Theis’ grade: B

Daniel Theis hit all of his shots from the floor and the team suffered when he was on the bench, but he was noticeably bulled on the block by Bosnian big man Jusuf Nurkic.

It’s easy to overlook that when the team wins, but if the team loses in the postseason, his inability to body up the league’s behemoths will be spotlighted once more.