SPREADING THE WEALTH. Derrick White leads a balanced attack for the Celtics.
Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports/Reuters
Eight players score in double figures for the league-leading Celtics, who claim their fourth straight win
Derrick White had 23 points and 10 assists to lead the NBA-leading Boston Celtics to a 119-109 win over the visiting Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, February 12 (Monday, February 13, Manila time).
Sam Hauser (20 points) tied a career-high with six three-pointers as Boston finished 21 of 51 from downtown en route to its fourth straight win.
Jayson Tatum and Al Horford each added 16 points. Tatum did not record a field goal in the second half but did add 2 steals and 2 blocks for the game.
Robert Williams III had a 10-point, 16-rebound double-double.
Eight Celtics finished with at least 10 points.
After Memphis erased Boston’s 13-point halftime lead, the Celtics separated in the fourth quarter. White and Payton Pritchard hit triples early in the frame, but it was White’s three-point play and a Hauser three-pointer that highlighted a 9-2 run by the 8:32 mark.
Boston led 107-97 after Horford stuck the team’s 20th three-pointer with 3:41 left. Horford beat the timer with another triple, extending the lead to 112-100 and clinching the game with 1:27 to go.
Ja Morant led Memphis with 25 points and added 7 assists and 6 rebounds. Desmond Bane scored 18 points.
Tatum and Hauser’s three-pointers fueled an 8-2 run that gave the Celtics their first lead.
The Grizzlies followed on an 13-2 run during which Bane scored a three-point play and another layup. Morant’s first make and two trips to the line followed, making it a 24-15 game.
Pritchard scored two right-side treys late in the first as Boston closed with an 11-4 spurt.
After another Pritchard trey started Boston’s second, Memphis put up a 7-0 spurt to move ahead 35-29. Boston led 41-39 on White’s layup with 5:10 left before halftime.
White canned another three and drove for a three-point play, scoring 8 straight points during a 13-0 run. A late highlight was his alley-oop lob to Williams with 2:08 left.
The Celtics closed the quarter on a 22-9 run and led 61-48 at intermission.
Memphis responded with a 15-2 start to the third. Bane sank a three-pointer to begin the quarter and the game was tied at 63 by the 7:13 mark.
Morant’s jumper and long pass to Clarke to finish through traffic gave Memphis a 75-74 lead with 2:40 left in the third.
Boston led 82-81 after three after Luke Kennard hit a corner trey, answering Mike Muscala’s floater and a Luke Kornet tip-in in the paint in the final minute.
