Game 2 of any series is important, but you have to deem it to be even more crucial when you lost Game 1. That’s the situation that both the Boston Celtics and the Memphis Grizzlies found themselves in coming into Tuesday night on their home courts. Failure to win would mean they would be traveling for Game 3 while also being down 2-0, and that would mean the possibility of going home very early. Both of them, however, were able to grab victories and ensure that they headed on the road with the series even.
The Celtics did so by handling the Milwaukee Bucks 109-86 for a fairly comfortable ‘W.’ Jaylen Brown posted 30 points while Jayson Tatum had 29 and the C’s combined to make 20 of 43 three-pointers on the way toward a vital win. The Grizzlies also won, though they were battled more tightly than the Celtics were. They took a 106-101 win over the Golden State Warriors, relying upon Ja Morant to drop 47 on the heads of their foes from Oakland. No other Grizzlies player had more than 14, showing just how critical Morant was on the evening, and they will know they need him to be at his sharpest in order to compete in this series and beyond.
