Jayson Tatum continues his horrific run of play, joining Larry Bird in the Celtics record books.
OSTON: Jayson Tatum’s season really starts to take off at this point. With a victory over the Nets in Brooklyn on Tuesday night, the Boston Celtics star continued his wild run, earning MVP chants from onlookers and going down in Boston history alongside Larry Bird.
Throughout a 41-point explosion against the Nets, which gave Boston a 118-110 victory and the team’s 42nd win of the year, Tatum had that expression in his eyes. Against the Nets defense, he accomplished just about whatever he wanted, scoring 31 of those points in the first half.
Tatum went 6-for-9 to open the game, including a perfect 3-for-3 performance from three-point range. He made his third consecutive three-pointer in front of the Boston bench late in the quarter, but Dennis Schroder, a former teammate, fouled him in the process. Before finishing the four-point play and setting a new season high for Tatum with 16 points in the first quarter, he gave out a kiss to the crowd. At that point, chants of “MVP” started reverberating throughout the Barclays Center.
Tatum responded with 15 points in the second quarter, which gave Boston a 72-57 lead at the half. While Boston managed to hold off a tough Brooklyn team, he grabbed eight of his fourteen rebounds, including four in the fourth quarter, while only scoring 10 points in the second half. Tatum recorded his 20th double-double of the year on Tuesday night. He also contributed two steals, five assists, and a crucial late-game block on Cam Thomas to fill up the stat sheet.
Tatum has now scored forty points or more in 25 different games during his career, second only to Larry Bird’s record of 47 games with the Boston Celtics. Tuesday night, the rookie Celtics player did beat the Hall of Famer in one category: Tatum currently possesses.
For good measure, on Tuesday night, Tatum had at least 20 points and seven rebounds in 11 straight games. This stretch is the fourth longest in Boston history, after only Bird (15), Kevin McHale (14), and John Havlicek (12). Not bad.
After the victory, Tatum told reporters, “It’s always an honor to be mentioned with some of the greatest players of all time.” “that’s evident that hearing that makes me shiver. It gives me a positive feeling. I suppose I’m doing something correctly.”
Tatum is no stranger to going bonkers in the second half of a season, but it appears like he’s ready to step it up a notch.
Over the past seven games, he has averaged 29.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 6.6 assists, leading Boston in all three categories. He has also added 1.1 blocks and a steal. Over the past two weeks, he has been on a complete rampage. During Boston’s current winning streak, he has averaged 31.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 7.2 assists, pretty nearly flirting with a triple-double in each of the last five games.
The All-Star Break, which starts after Wednesday night’s home game against the Nets, is the only thing that will slow Tatum down at this point. Even so, Tatum will undoubtedly perform well in Indiana as he attempts to win an All-Star MVP trophy for the second time in a row.
