Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum scores 21 in 4th to outduel Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies

BOSTON — When Celtics guard Marcus Smart sees Jayson Tatum get going the way the All-Star forward did in the fourth quarter Thursday night against the Memphis Grizzlies, he said his approach becomes a simple one.

«Make sure I'm staying out of his f---ing way,» Smart said. «Let him do his thing.»

Smart and the Celtics did just that Thursday night, as Tatum's 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting in the fourth quarter was enough to outduel Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant's 30 points on 10-for-15 shooting in the second half, lifting Boston to a 120-107 victory over Memphis here at TD Garden.

The win, Boston's 13th in its last 15 games, and one that moved the Celtics into sole possession of fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings, was one of the team's best victories of the season. Not only did the Celtics (38-27) knock off one of the league's best teams in the Grizzlies (43-21), they did so with Jaylen Brown, sidelined with a sprained ankle he suffered in the opening moments of Tuesday's victory here over the Atlanta Hawks.

It's a win Boston picked up thanks to Tatum's heroics, as he went shot-for-shot with Morant and came out on top.

«It was a lot of fun,» Tatum said of the back-and-forth with Morant. «The place was electric tonight. I think it was just one of those moments: two guys just going at it, doing what they can to will their team to a victory, and it just so happened that it was a back and forth thing.»

Despite his seemingly nightly ridiculous highlight — a one-handed alley-oop finish on a give-and-go fast break with Kyle Anderson — Morant got off to a slow start as he went into the halftime break with just eight points on 3-for-14 shooting. In the second half, things escalated quickly as he finished with those 30