INDIANKeynote USAOLIS – Jayson Tatum has played in 107 playoff games in his seven-year NBA career. It’s not a challenge to identify his best performance.
It has to be his 46-point effort in Game 6 of the 2022 Eastern Conference semifinals against the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks. The Celtics were trailing 3-2 in the series. They were on the road. He looked gloomy.
The Bucks were coming off a Game 5 win in which this one-man defensive scheme named Jrue Holiday (maybe you’ve heard of him?) – made two sensational late plays, including a mid-court steal against Marcus Smart who suddenly looks awfully familiar.
Tatum’s best playoff game? No doubt.
Game 6, Milwaukee, 2022 should be the choice.
Oh yes: and we just witnessed second place.
Maybe it’s dangerous to rate those things immediately after a thrilling victory. But this one will remain.
Tatum scored 36 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 8 assists, including one that will surely make his career shine, as the Celtics rallied from an 18-point deficit to upset the Indiana Pacers in Game 3 of the Conference Semifinals. This one on Saturday night. 114-111.
The Celtics now lead the series 3-0, with Game 4 on Monday.
It was an extraordinarily well-rounded effort by Tatum, who became the first player in NBA history to reach the aforementioned points, rebounds and assist totals without committing a single turnover.
What did he do? Just everything.
He scored 15 points in the first quarter to set the tone. He provided solid post defense in the second half after Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam ate the Celtics alive inside during the first half, outscoring them in the paint 42-18 in the first 24 minutes. (This was really the first time the Celtics missed Kristaps Porzingis during this playoff run.)
Each of Tatum’s 10 rebounds appeared to come in heavy traffic. He hit a huge 3-pointer with 1 minute, 41 seconds left, cutting the Pacers’ lead to 109-106 after the Celtics had fallen short on multiple previous attempts to get closer.
Four of his assists came in the fourth quarter, when, instead of forcing his own offense, he did what the true elite is supposed to do: elevate his teammates.
One of the assists, a perfect behind-the-back bounce pass from the paint to Al Horford waiting in the corner, has to be the most creative and bold assist of his career. Horford, who made seven 3-pointers, the most in a playoff game for a player 37 or older, hit the shot with 1:12 left, cutting the Pacers’ lead to 111-109.
Horford offered a good quote about Tatum’s pass when he finished: “It’s pretty special… I don’t know how he got there, he had to improvise. He just continued to make the right play over and over again. “That was an unbelievable play.”
But Jaylen Brown, who has been working more and more behind the microphone this postseason, had an even better (and more concise) answer: “Hang it in the (expletive) Louvre.”
It’s important to note that Tatum, as extraordinary as he was (save for four missed free throws, if you really want to nitpick), didn’t need to do this alone, and better yet, he knew it. He trusted Horford to be where he expected him to be.
“We always talk about spacing, making sure we’re in the right places,” he said. “I trusted him to be there, he trusted me to make the right read. It was a great shot he made.”
And it was a great effort by the Celtics starters. Brown scored 24 points on 10-of-18 shooting. Derrick White scored three crucial final goals and dished out seven assists. Horford finished with 23 points and 3 blocks.
Then there’s Holiday, who was doubtful to play after feeling unwell and missing shootaround the previous Saturday. He was quiet at first (he didn’t score his first basket until late in the first half), but with the game on the line, he was the most energetic player on the court.
In just the final minute, Holiday converted a layup (off a pass from Tatum), drew a foul, and made the free throw to give the Celtics their first lead since the first quarter at 112-111.
With 3.1 seconds left and the Celtics still ahead by the same score, he pounced on Andrew Nembhard’s dribble and stole the ball from him in a manner identical to what he did to Smart and the Celtics two years ago. Then Holiday made the free throws for the final margin, because that’s what winning players do. I wish this guy had played his entire career here, right?
“Whatever it takes,” Brown said of the Celtics’ mentality. “One game at a time. Play as a team. Win as a team. Lose as a team. Tonight we stayed that way and now we are one game away from returning to the final.”
If for some reason you watch sports talk shows with the sound on, you know that Tatum has received a ridiculous amount of scrutiny during a playoff run in which his team is now 11-2.
It’s usually a waste of effort trying to shame the shameless, but Tatum responded to those critics, idiots, and Kendrick Perkins in the best way possible.
He played spectacularly and selflessly when his team was desperate for both.
On Saturday night, Jayson Tatum had the second-best playoff performance of his career.
Okay, we’ll add a warning.
It was his second best performance…for now.
Charging…
Keynote USA
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