The Studs:

Jayson Tatum

Jayson Tatum was one of the few relatively encouraging things coming out of the awful game. Coming off one of the worst performances of his career against the Knicks, he bounced back with a pretty alright performance, scoring 18 points on an efficient 8/14 from the floor. He was hitting the shots he normally hits, the type of shots he couldn’t buy against the Knicks. All in all, it was good to see Tatum getting back to who he is. 

Al Horford

Al Horford made his return to the Celtics, and despite the loss, it was a pretty good individual performance. What he did on the floor was indicative of what he used to do for the Celtics 2 years ago. He scored 11 points on 5/12 from the floor, grabbed 11 rebounds to secure a double double, and recorded 4 blocks. If this is the type of performance we can expect out of Al this season, that raises the team’s ceiling moving forward.

Josh Richardson

Josh Richardson made his Celtics debut after missing the season opener due to a migraine. He was the first person off the bench, and made an immediate impact hitting his three pointers and playing solid defense. He led the bench in scoring with 12 points on 4/7 shooting (4/4 from three). As the second unit tries to figure it out, his production will be important moving forward.

The Duds:

Jaylen Brown

Jaylen Brown followed his historic performance against the Knicks with a terrible one in the home opener. Only scoring 9 points on 3/13 shooting. He didn’t find any rhythm, and even his open shots weren’t falling, just like Tatum’s last game. He was 0/7 from three, it was ugly. Most importantly, he had 0 assists. If this team wants to improve their ball movement, it starts from the top. You can’t be the second best player and not have any assists, that’s a recipe for disaster. I’m not worried about Jaylen, it was just disappointing.

Marcus Smart

Marcus Smart has yet to have a good performance this year. His game against the Knicks wasn’t horrible, and he made the big shot to send the game to overtime, but prior to that was nothing special. This game, he scored 0, yes 0, points going 0/6 from the floor, 4 of those missing from three. I don’t need to explain why that’s unacceptable from a starting point guard. The Celtics have put a lot of trust into Marcus, giving him the starting point guard role, I hope it pays off soon.

Payton Pritchard and Dennis Schroder

Payton Pritchard seems to be having a hard time sharing the court with Dennis Schroder. Pritchard is the type of player that needs to have the ball to be effective, and at this point in time, I’m not sure if having them share the court is the best use of either of their minutes. Both players have been underperforming relative to their expectations, and that’s what is landing them both in this section of Duds.