Photo: Daily Express

By: Patrick Whalen

We continue our count down of the Top 10 performances of the Celtics season here at The Parquet with numbers 7 and 8. If you missed out on the start of our count down hit the link here to see what we had at numbers 10 and 9 in our countdown. Without further delay lets jump right in at number 8.

8: Jayson Tatum vs Portland Trailblazers Feb 25, 2020

This game came during a stretch of 4 straight games out west with the stop in Portland being the 3rd game in 6 days and the first part of a back to back. With both teams missing their star point guards in Kemba Walker and Damian Lillard other players would have to step up in their absence and that’s exactly what Jayson Tatum did. Tatum powered the Celtics to a 118-106 win over Portland with 36 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks on 14-22 shooting. Tatum was showing off all aspects of his scoring repertoire showing his great finishing ability at the rim and his nice mid-range shot. But the part of his game that he showed off the most was his three-point shot as Tatum was letting it fly to the tune of 8-12 from deep. In the highlight video below you can see the confidence, he had all night highlighted by his pull up three right in the face of Carmelo Anthony. Tatum also did most of his damage when it counted scoring 26 of his 36 in the second half including 14 in the 4th quarter that featured 4 clutch threes down the stretch to finish off the win. This game was just another reminder of the jump Tatum has taken as a scorer this season and that his future just keeps getting brighter by the day.

7: Jaylen Brown vs Philadelphia 76ers Feb 1, 2020

On the first day of February, the Celtics welcomed their divisional rivals to the TD Garden for the final regular-season matchup between the two squads. The Sixers had already won the first 3 matchups of the season and the Celtics were looking to avoid the sweep against their divisional rivals. A key to the Celtics trying to capture their first win of the season over Philly would be an improved performance from Jaylen Brown who combined for just 24 points between the first 3 games of the season series. Brown knew about his struggles and answered big time to lead the Celtics to a 116-95 win over their eastern conference foe. Brown led the way with one of the best games of his career with 32 points and 9 rebounds on 13-23 shooting and that was despite shooting an abysmal 1-10 from three-point range. Brown may have struggled from deep but he showed off his improved mid range game and his alsways fantastic and explosive finishing ability around the rim. Brown was also bringing the engery at both ends with 2 steals and finishing with a +29 plus/minus rating to lead all Celtics players. Check out the video below to remember the good days of the Celtics dominating Philly.

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