Jayson Tatum's 50-point night elevates Celtics past Wizards in play-in opener
Canada's Oshae Brissett pours in 23 points to help Pacers sting Hornets
Jayson Tatum scored 32 of his 50 points in the second half, and the Boston Celtics rallied to beat the Washington Wizards 118-100 in the play-in round on Tuesday night.
Kemba Walker added 29 points for Boston, which secured the seventh seed for the playoffs and a first-round matchup with second-seeded Brooklyn. That series opens on Saturday.
Washington will host Indiana, which rolled over Charlotte in Tuesday's other play-in game, for the eighth seed on Friday. The winner of that game will face Philadelphia, the top seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The Celtics played without second-leading scorer Jaylen Brown, who had season-ending wrist surgery last week. He sat courtside to support his teammates, but they missed his offensive production in the first half while they struggled to get into a flow.
That changed in the third quarter. Boston opened the second half on a 22-4 run, opening a 74-58 lead.
Boston followed Tatum's lead. The All-Star forward created space for open jumpers and drew contact in the lane. He was 17 of 17 from the free-throw line.
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Washington closed to 91-84 in the fourth quarter, but Boston responded with a 15-6 run to push the lead to 106-88 with 5:32 to play.
Beal, who is dealing with a tender left hamstring, didn't have his usual explosiveness early on. He did his best to keep pace with Tatum and Walker, but the Wizards struggled with turnovers and cold outside shooting for most of the night.
Washington led 54-52 at halftime, shooting 50 per cent from the field and getting a boost from its reserves, which outscored its Boston counterparts 22-6 in the opening 24 minutes.
The Celtics didn't help themselves by shooting just 35 per cent in the half, including 29per cent (7 of 24) in the second quarter.
Canada's Brissett helps Pacers past Hornets
Ex-Raptor Oshae Brissett of Toronto scored 23 points while Domantas Sabonis had 14 points, 21 rebounds and nine assists, and the short-handed Indiana Pacers routed the Charlotte Hornets 144-117 in the Eastern Conference's first play-in game Tuesday night.
Indiana will visit the loser of Tuesday's other play-in game, No. 7 Boston against No. 8 Washington, on Thursday.
It was Indiana's first postseason win since a blowout victory against Cleveland in April 2018. And the Pacers won this one despite losing forward Caris LeVert to the league's health and safety protocol.
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Charlotte was led by Miles Bridges with 18 points and former Indiana University star Cody Zeller with 17. The Hornets finished the season with six straight losses.
The difference: Indiana's playoff experience, which showed right from the start.
With McDermott leading the charge, Indiana started 7 of 11 from 3-point range, continually beat the Hornets to loose balls and stayed in front of Charlotte on defence.
Indiana pulled out to a 23-9 lead, and then extended the margin 40-24 after one, 69-45 at halftime and 76-45 early in the third quarter. The Hornets were never close after the opening minutes.
The Pacers finished 16 of 35 on 3s and shot 55.2 per cent from the field overall.
