3 Studs, 3 duds from Celtics monster 108-89 win over Heat

The Boston Celtics welcomed the Miami Heat to town on Monday night. Both teams were on the second leg of back-to-backs. The Celtics lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night, and the Heat lost to the Toronto Raptors. Boston was without Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, Jrue Holiday, and Sam Hauser, while the Heat were without Jimmy Butler, Kevin Love, and some other rotation guys.

It was a battle of two injury-plagued squads, but the Celtics absolutely dominated. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were active, but neither was particularly impressive, and both were woefully inefficient. Instead, it was the rest of the Celtics who got the job done, earning a 108-89 win over the Heat.

Here are three studs and three duds from the Celtics’ win over the Heat on Monday night.

Stud - Payton Pritchard

For the third game in a row, Payton Pritchard was a self-sustaining inferno, absolutely torching the Heat every chance he got. Two straight fourth-quarter masterclasses against the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers were followed up with a game-long clinic on Monday night.

Pritchard was on fire from behind the arc as the Heat constantly lost track of him (somehow). He drained triple after triple after triple, tying Tatum’s league-high mark of three games with four or more threes in the first half.

But Pritchard’s great night extended inside the arc, too. He was bodying guys inside and making plays happen on the drive.

Pritchard is not only the league favorite for Sixth Man of the Year, he’s also one of the most important players on the Celtics.

Dud - Jaylen Brown

Though he managed to get to the free-throw line a bunch, especially in the first half, Brown was a bit all over the place in this game.

Brown was driving to the rim constantly, yet he rarely kept his head up enough to find the kick-out opportunities this Celtics offense usually thrives on. Instead, he just took whatever shot he could at the rim.

After missing Sunday’s game against the Cavs, Brown didn’t look amazing on Monday night.

Stud - Luke Kornet

With Porzingis and Horford sidelined for this one, Luke Kornet got the start. He gave Boston a great boost, especially early in the game.

As the contest got rolling, the Celtics consistently looked for Kornet down low. He threw down a lob over Bam Adebayo and was finishing a bunch of dump-off passes, too.

When Kornet was on the floor, the Celtics’ defense looked completely different. He notched a Celtics season-high four blocks in the first half and altered a bunch more down low. Miami was far less adamant about getting inside when Kornet was in the paint vs. Neemias Queta or Xavier Tillman.

But Kornet’s shot-blocking antics didn’t stop there. He logged two more in the third quarter, tying his career-high of six.

Kornet was exactly what Boston needed on both ends of the court, and Monday night was a massive defensive showing for the big man.

Dud - Jayson Tatum

Like Brown, Tatum was pretty rough for a good chunk of this game, especially in the first half. He was driving into contact a lot, but unlike Brown, he wasn’t getting the foul calls.

A couple of threes went down in the first half, but other than that, Tatum wasn’t able to score at the level he usually does. And the assists weren’t there either.

The turnovers weren’t ideal, either. A pair of bad entry passes at the start of the third quarter highlighted a relatively sloppy night for the Celtics superstar.

It wasn’t necessarily a bad showing for Tatum (and the same could be said for Brown), but based on his very high standard, he was just subpar.

Stud - Derrick White

After missing Sunday’s game in Cleveland, Derrick White came back on Monday night and looked great. He gave the Celtics a bit of everything in classic D-White fashion.

The threes were raining down at a solid clip, but it was the way he was shooting them that was most impressive. White was rising up to shoot with almost no space. He’s as confident as he’s ever been.

White’s assist numbers were also incredible. He had seven in the first half alone, leading the charge within the flow of Boston’s offense.

Combined with his usual defensive performance, it was an all-around great night for White.

Dud - Jaden Springer and JD Davison

Neemias Queta’s defense wasn’t great, and Jordan Walsh didn’t make the most of his second career start, but neither played terribly. At least they got onto the court. The same couldn’t be said for Jaden Springer and JD Davison.

They were the only two active players not to get any rotation playing time (they both got in for the final 2:35 in garbage time) on Monday night as Joe Mazzulla rolled out the red carpet for most of the bench guys.

Davison is in his third and final year of two-way eligibility, and Springer is in the final year of his contract. At this point, it’s looking like neither has a great shot of coming back to Boston next season.