The Boston Celtics got a win in their playoff series against the heavily favored Brooklyn Nets on Friday night, thanks to a remarkable performance from 23-year-old forward Jayson Tatum.
James Harden (41) and Kevin Durant (39) combined for 80 points for Brooklyn, but Tatum took things to another level with a 50-point effort to lead Boston to a 125-119 victory. Tatum went 16-of-30 from the field, 5-of-11 on threes, and was extremely efficient from the charity stripe by making 13-of-15 free throws. He also had seven assists, six rebounds, two steals, and one block.
Tatum delivered the dagger to reach 50 points with this pull-up jumper over Durant:
JAYSON TATUM.
50 POINTS AND THE DAGGER. pic.twitter.com/MqlhYyAuQr
— ESPN (@espn) May 29, 2021
More tweets on Tatum’s amazing Game 3: ‘
Tatum making Celtics history
He's the first Celtic since Isaiah Thomas to drop 50 in the playoffs. pic.twitter.com/buUToQtPC8
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 29, 2021
Jayson Tatum is now the only player in NBA history to drop 50 points in:
Regular season Play-In Tournament Playoffs A season for the history books. pic.twitter.com/YK6XxoJJIm
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 29, 2021
Jayson Tatum reached four 50-point games in his 338th career game.
Larry Bird had his 4th 50-point game in his 867th game.
According to @EliasSports Tatum is the 1st player in NBA playoff history to score 50 points after scoring single digits the previous game. pic.twitter.com/furzhQDsgL
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 29, 2021
It may take a few more performances like this one from Tatum to have any sort of chance vs the three-headed monster of Durant, Harden, and Kyrie Irving. But the Celtics at least got a victory and have made it a series.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.