The NBA’s top team, the Boston Celtics, beat the hurt Memphis Grizzlies 131–91 on Sunday night. Jayson Tatum scored 34 points before sitting out the last quarter.

The Celtics played a team missing LeBron James and Anthony Davis on Thursday night, which was a depressing loss. This time, the team had only eight players available because 13 were injured.

“I thought we did our job,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said about how his team responded. “I thought the game went the way it should have.” I thought we did a good job, played well, and came with the right attitude.

As a team, Kristaps Porzingis scored 26 points, Derrick White scored 15, and Al Horford scored 11. This helped Boston improve to 23-3 at TD Garden. Tatum also had eight boards, and seven assists, and made six out of twelve 3-point shots.

The backups for Boston played almost the whole last quarter.

It was Scotty Pippen Jr. who scored 19 points for the Grizzlies. It was 18 for GG Jackson and 14 for David Roddy.

When asked about the short bench, Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said, “These guys have been ready for this chance.” “They came out, and I thought they played well tonight.” It was exciting to see them play against the NBA’s best team.

All-Star forward Jaylen Brown couldn’t play for Boston because he hurt his back.

For Marcus Smart, the Celtics were the team he played for for nine years in the NBA before trading him to another team for Kristaps Porzingis. Smart couldn’t play for Memphis because he hurt his right ring finger.

He said, “It was nice to see him today.” “I had a great time here with him. One reason I first came here in 2016 was to see Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Smart.

The crowd started chanting “Thank You, Marcus!” when they had a good lead in the game. Dear Marcus, Thank You!”

The Celtics gave Smart the “Hero Among Us” award in the second quarter for his community service. In the middle of the first quarter, there was a video homage that made the fans chant loudly, “We love Marcus!” We love you, Marcus!”

“It was cool to see,” Tatum said of the video, which got a big cheer from the crowd. “He shouldn’t have cried,” I said.

“There’s nothing like playing in this place, playing in this city,” Smart told a packed press meeting before the game. He then went to his old locker room. It was these people who helped me grow. I feel at home in Boston two times a week.