Celtics vs. Grizzlies takeaways: Total team effort for undermanned C's

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Already without Jaylen Brown, the Boston Celtics were dealt a further blow when his replacement, Aaron Nesmith, left with an injury just five minutes into Thursday's game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Down one of their most important players and another rotational piece, it was fair to wonder if the Celtics had the horses to hang with Ja Morant and the high-flying Grizzlies, who entered Thursday third in the Western Conference with a 43-20 record.

In yet another sign that something's different with these Celtics from the frustrating version we saw for much of the first half of the season, Boston overcame the adversity with one of its more impressive, well-rounded victories of the season, defeating Memphis 120-107 at TD Garden to move to a season-best 11 games over .500 at 38-27.

Front and center of the action was the birthday boy, Jayson Tatum, who scored 23 of his team-high 37 points in the fourth quarter. And Tatum still wasn't one of three Celtics who had a double-double on the night.

Here are some takeaways from the win, the 20th in the last 26 games for Boston.

Happy birthday, Jayson Tatum

One of the most accomplished players in league history -- statistically speaking -- in terms of what he'd accomplished before turning 24, Tatum was still missing one notable item from his birthday wish list: A win. 

The Celtics were 0-3 on Tatum's March 3 birthday since drafting him third overall in 2017 prior to Thursday. What's more, Tatum didn't play all that well on his 20th or 21st birthday for the C's, scoring an identical 12 points against the Houston Rockets in 2018 and 2019. He was inactive on his 22nd birthday in 2020.

Tatum breezed past his point total for his birthdays in the NBA combined, nearly doing so in the fourth quarter alone.

Here were some of his top highlights from the game:

Above all else, Tatum was efficient against the Grizzlies, making 14 of his 25 shots from the floor. The 14 made field goals tied Tatum's fourth-best mark of the season.

Ageless Al

Horford is three months out from his 36th birthday and one of only five players still active from his draft class in 2007.

You'd never know it with the way he played on Thursday night, matching a season-high with 21 points and bringing in 15 rebounds, his most of the season, finishing as a team-best plus-18.

Like Tatum, Horford was efficient, connecting on 8 of 16 shots from the floor, including 4 of 8 from 3-point range. His four makes from beyond the arc also matched a season high.

On a night where the Celtics needed big minutes from all of their remaining starters following Nesmith's exit, Horford was the only Boston player to top 40 minutes, just the second time this season he's done so. 

Marcus Smart managing the point just fine

Perhaps in the spirit of giving on Tatum's birthday, Marcus Smart had an excellent night passing the ball, matching a season and career-high with 12 assists to go along with 18 points.

If there's one nit to pick with Smart, it's that he took a team-high nine 3-point shots (though he did make four) in the game. Smart has a tendency to try and do just a little bit too much in situations when either Tatum or Brown are unavailable, as was the case against the Grizzlies. Smart was 7 of 17 from the field overall, his 17 field goal attempts second to Tatum.

Another double-double for Time Lord

Rounding out the double-double fest on the evening for the Celtics was Robert Williams III, who had 10 points and 12 rebounds -- as well as three blocks. The double-double was the seventh for Time Lord in his last 10 games and his 23rd of the season.

Ja Morant worth the price of admission

The second overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft may only have had eight points at halftime, but two of them came on this dunk for the Grizzlies.

The dunk seemingly woke Morant up, as he went on to score 30 points in the second half en route to a game-high 38 points. Over his last three games, Morant has scored an absurd 136 points for Memphis.

A first-time All-Star this season, Morant has been getting some buzz as the favorite for the NBA's Most Improved Player, but he might have a compelling MVP case at the rate he's on. Entering play Thursday, Morant was sixth in the NBA in scoring at 27.6 points per game.

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