Boston Celtics Player Grades After Win Over Knicks, Led by Jayson Tatum's A+ night

The Boston Celtics held on to beat the New York Knicks in a fun, back-and-forth home opener at TD Garden. It was a game that required a lot of good contributions from a lot of players, so let’s dive in for a closer look. 

Starters 

Jayson Tatum (36 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals): A+

An absolute monster game from Jayson Tatum, and an incredible bounceback after the tough night in Detroit. 

“He had good poise in the pick and roll, he was able to create separation,” Joe Mazzulla said. “I thought he had relatively good balance from his offensive shot profile and mixed it up.”

The shot chart looks pretty balanced, which is what we’d call three-level scoring. The 7-9 in the five-foot range is really important. If Tatum is getting 14 points off layups and dunks, then there's a good chance he’s getting to the line and he’s opening up some jump shots, which is an easy recipe for a 30-point night. 

And, of course, there were the clutch shots to close the game out. 

That was a tough shot. It might not look like it, but this is a difficult shot for a right-handed player to take. Well, difficult shot for a normal right-handed player, anyway.  

Derrick White (12 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal): B+

I think there's a feeling out process in the short term as the C’s figure out the scoring dynamic between White, Payton Pritchard, and Paul George. The ball is going to be spread around more, and I think the early going is involving a lot more looking for each other and maybe a little less of guys going for it when they're feeling good. 

That's probably for the best, and I think White will thrive in that role, but his overall numbers might look a little low in the meantime. I thought he hit some really timely shots. Interestingly, he hasn’t blocked a shot yet in the preseason or regular season. On thing I’ve been watching for is whether the addition of Mitchell Robinson 

Paul George (15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals): A-

Leaving him a little leeway with the grade because the offense still hasn’t quite come around yet. 

“Just keep shooting. Keep shooting,” George said after the game. “I’m not gonna make every shot, although I want to. It’s not likely, or it’s not realistic. But you’ve got to keep shooting. I’ll find a rhythm here in front of these wonderful fans here. I’ll get to it. Mostly, again, just playing as hard as I can and doing whatever I can to win.”

He’s been incredibly disruptive defensively, which has been fun to watch. This is going to be an interesting season for him. 

Mitchell Robinson (4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block): B

Started better than the last game, but got into early foul trouble. They ran one very interesting play to get him an alley oop.

The Celtics are getting really creative with their sequencing of screens. This got Robinson wide open. Robinson’s progress is already evident, so I think things will continue to improve.

“I’m new here, so kind of got to get used to seeing how they really play and stuff like that,” he said. “So as it goes, stuff will start to happen.”

Jordan Walsh (5 points, 3 rebounds): B-

Walsh is very difficult to grade. His defense on Brunson was pretty good, but he has to find his place in the offense. So the defense will generally bring his grade up, and it’s just a matter how much his offense drags him down. I also want to be fair because he’s not going to be a stat sheet guy. I have to do a deeper dive on him to fully appreciate what Joe Mazzulla is seeing in him.

Bench

Luka Garza (8 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal): A

He only played 3:30, but I think those were really important minutes. Both Robinson and Neemias Queta were in foul trouble, and Garza stepped in with a pair of three-pointers, a putback, and a steal. That was a clutch run where he was +6, which was really important in such a close game. 

Neemias Queta (15 points, 6 rebounds (4 offensive), 3 blocks): A- 

The minus is there because of the foul trouble, which he needs to be better about. He committed a frustration foul early in the game with the Celtics in the penalty, which is the kind of thing that not only hurts the team, but it puts his own minutes at risk. He’s way too important to the team to be undisciplined in that way.

Not only did he make a three, which is always fun, he made his great pass as well. 

I really like Queta in this role. I think this center rotation is very good.

Payton Pritchard (8 points, 4 assists, 1 rebound): B-

He was a team-high +8, so he was part of a positive lineup. I’m not going to read too deep into his first two games, but I’m just watching to see if he can get into more of a groove as the season progresses. He’s very dependent on his centers to get him going, so for now, I’m going to tie his success into them also figuring things out. 

Sam Hauser (8 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists): B

Solid night. Hit a couple of threes. Made the right plays. Played solid defense. He tied Pritchard at +8 as well.

Baylor Scheierman (4 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists): C+

He didn’t do much in 11 minutes, but look at this screening: 

https://x.com/John_Karalis/status/2114119701911486556

Hugo Gonzalez (0 points, 1 assist, 3:35 minutes): Incomplete

Joe went to him early and then never again. Not sure why he’s not getting much opportunity right now, but we all know that can change in an instant.