Tatum did it all for Boston in a gritty win on Friday night.
Jayson Tatum and the Celtics had to grind their way to a 108-104 overtime victory over the Nets on Friday, improving to 8-2 this season.
Here are the takeaways.
Jayson Tatum might be even better.
You can’t really overstate how fortunate the Celtics are to have two players as good as Tatum and Jaylen Brown, given that they are both also deeply committed to getting better every season.
Tatum was excellent last year – the best player on the best team in the league. Through 10 games this season, there’s a case to be made that he has ascended yet another level – that he is the most versatile player in the NBA, and a cheat code of a building block. Much is justifiably made of Tatum’s supporting cast, but there’s also one major reason why Tatum-plus-the-bench lineups have been so good over the years, and with every ounce of due respect, that primary reason is not Luke Kornet.
On Friday, Tatum poured in 33 points on 11-for-25 shooting. He scored down the stretch. He scored in overtime. He hit 3-pointers. And once again, as has been the case since last year, he took advantage of all the defensive attention and dished out six assists. Add nine rebounds (including some big ones late), a pair of steals and a block, and Tatum finished with the type of statline you regularly see attached to MVP candidates.
The difference this year? Tatum still manipulates the defense and finds teammates, but he’s also scoring more on his own. Only Payton Pritchard topped 20 points besides Tatum, and the Celtics shot just 26.4 percent from behind the arc as a team. They really needed superstar production, and Tatum was ready to provide it.
The final seconds were chaotic.
The Celtics came close to winning in regulation.
As the final minute wound down, the Celtics got two big stops with the game tied, and Joe Mazzulla leapt to his feet to call a timeout and ensure that they would have an opportunity for a 2-for-1.
