Boston beat New York 107-103 at TD Garden to even its record at 1-1, and Jayson Tatum finished with 36 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. OG Anunoby answered with 20, 10 and 8, and a four-point win settles very little.
Tatum answered Detroit with the best line on the floor.
Three days after Boston.com relayed Bill Simmons calling Tatum's game in Detroit terrible, Tatum led both teams with 36 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. He opened 3 of 6 from the floor for seven points in his first eight minutes, with no turnovers. Grade: A. One night answers one loss. It does not establish a pattern for a player who appeared in only 16 games last season.
Anunoby kept New York within reach.
OG Anunoby led the Knicks with 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, a fuller line than the 16.7 points per game he averaged last season. Karl-Anthony Towns started 3 of 3 for eight points in eight minutes, and Jalen Brunson opened with four. A team that went 53-29 a year ago is now 0-2, which says more about October than about the Knicks.
The opening rotation split cleanly by plus-minus.
Mitchell Robinson was +4 in three minutes. Neemias Queta was -7 in five, though his 10-foot hook off a Payton Pritchard feed cut New York's lead to 19-16. Paul George, 38 points in his debut, opened 1 of 3 for two points at -5. Sam Hauser's three off a Hugo Gonzalez assist made it 21-19 New York with 3:24 left in the first quarter. Grades: Robinson B, Queta C, George incomplete. Plus-minus over three to five minutes is noise with a scoreboard attached.
The schedule now tests depth Boston has not yet shown.
Boston gets three days off before Chicago visits on October 26, then hosts Brooklyn the next night and Chicago again on October 30. Devin Carter, out since October 18 for illness, is projected back November 8. Last season's best five went +17.9 per 100 possessions over 200 minutes, and it included Jaylen Brown, who is now in Philadelphia. Joe Mazzulla has to rebuild that math with Tatum and George as the starting point.
Who led the Celtics in scoring against the Knicks?
Jayson Tatum scored 36 points, with nine rebounds and seven assists, in the 107-103 win.
When do the Celtics play next?
Boston hosts the Bulls on October 26, then the Nets on October 27.
