CNN
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The Boston Celtics turned the primary crew within the NBA this season to achieve 30 wins after beating the New Orleans Pelicans 125-114 at TD Backyard in Boston on Wednesday night time, largely behind a mixed 72 factors from the crew’s stars, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Brown scored season-high 41 factors and had 12 rebounds whereas Tatum had 31 factors and 10 rebounds because the Celtics gained their fourth straight sport.
Brown particularly attacked the Pelicans from the mid vary, crediting further muscle added within the offseason for permitting him to deal with contact with greater opponents, as he makes a concerted effort to not accept makes an attempt from deep.
“I believe I can get to the rim at price this yr,” Brown advised reporters afterwards, per the Celtics web site. “I undoubtedly wish to hold that up.
“I don’t wish to let the protection off the hook, however I be ok with a variety of the pictures I took from three. A few of them went down, a few of them haven’t. However I undoubtedly nonetheless suppose I’m going to look to get to the basket much more for positive only for the rest of the yr.”
Celtics ahead Al Horford reiterated the purpose: “When (Brown) drives, I really feel like individuals really feel it.
“When he’s hitting you when he’s driving, that’s actual. So it’s good to see him play at that degree and have his thoughts made up that he’s going to assault the paint.”
It was Brown’s sixth 40-point sport of his profession, shifting him previous Sam Jones and Isaiah Thomas for the sixth-most in Celtics historical past.
Along with Tatum, the 2 wing gamers have turn into the driving pressure behind Boston’s current success.
The crew reached the NBA Finals final season, ultimately shedding to the Golden State Warriors, and is once more the most effective within the league this yr.
In each scoring at the least 30 factors and 10 rebounds in the identical sport, Brown and Tatum turned the primary Celtics gamers to realize that stat line since Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker in 2001.
Drafted a yr after each other – Brown was drafted with the No. 3 choose within the 2016 draft and Tatum was chosen with the No. 3 choose in 2017 – they’ve constructed up an understanding collectively about dissecting defenses.
“They proceed to develop in entrance of our eyes,” Horford mentioned of the star duo after the victory. “They feed off one another, and that’s what actually drives our crew.”
