Kyle Hightower's Game Recap

Kyle Hightower, journalist for the Associated Press, wrote a game report on the Celtics first game of the season against the 76ers on October 18th for boston.com. Star Celtic forwards Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored 35 points as they led their team to a 126-117 victory to start their season. Along with this came interim head coach Joe Mazzula’s first win as Boston’s coach, and put the bow on a night that honored late Celtic legend Bill Russell.

Boston came out of the gate fast, getting up to a 9-2 lead. Following that, the 76ers went on to outscore the Celtics 27-15 for the rest of the quarter and led 29-24 after the first quarter. The second quarter was dominant for the Celtics, shooting efficiently and not turning the ball over once and finishing the first half tied at 63.. In the third, with 11:41 left in the quarter, Joel Embiid and Marcus Smart got tied up going for a rebound and had to be separated. Leading 110-97 with 8 minutes left, the Celtics would not give the lead back as the clock ran out.

The Celtics dominated the boards and fastbreak points, Hightower accurately accounts the games events with use of statistics and underlying storylines. The Celtics are looking strong and capable of another deep postseason run, despite missing Robert Williams for the first months of the season.

I enjoyed reading Kyle Hightower’s game report of the Celtics opening night game. It is nice to see how other writers format their game reports. He mixed quotes well, “‘It was a proud moment,’ Mazzulla said. ‘I think at the end of the game, the ‘Let’s go Celtics! ‘chant — we picked up right where we left off. … When they’re cheering for you, you’re doing something right.’” His quotes are often relevant and right where the reader is looking for them. Hightower also does a good job of separating his article by team, reading it felt like you read about what the Celtics did followed by the 76ers. This separation made it easier to understand as a reader. I think he could have done a better job at blending in information instead of just sectioning off topics that are slightly different. All in all, I think he did a great job with his game report.