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Jayson Tatum shines as Kyrie Irving coaches Team USA to win in Rising Stars Challenge

By Tom Wade

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 20: Kyrie Irving #11 and Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics in action against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on October 20, 2018 in New York City. Boston Celtics defeated the New York Knicks 103-101. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 20: Kyrie Irving #11 and Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics in action against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on October 20, 2018 in New York City. Boston Celtics defeated the New York Knicks 103-101. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
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All-Star weekend got underway in Charlotte last night with the Rising Stars Challenge between Team USA, coached by Boston Celtics’ Kyrie Irving and Team World, who were coached by Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki.

It was Irving and Team USA, who would come away with a 161-144 win, which was mostly thanks to Irving’s teammate Jayson Tatum as he put on a show for the Spectrum Center crowd.

Tatum finished the game with 30 points, nine rebounds and three assists while shooting 50 percent from the field. His three-point shooting on the night was also something to admire as he sunk six of his 14 attempts.

The Celtics sophomore also provided us with some highlights dunks, with the best of the bunch coming straight off the opening tip. That would set the tone on a strong first half from Tatum who had 16 of his 30 at the break, along with four boards and two dimes.

The second half was pretty much more of the same, as he showed off his formidable dunking ability, following an alley-oop bounce pass from Sacramento Kings guard D’Aaron Fox. With the game dying out and the USA blowing out Team World, Tatum had one more three left in him as sank a very wide open look.

Despite his big performance for his teammate and now coach, Tatum was denied the opportunity to take home the games MVP award. It was Kuzma who claimed the crown thanks to his 35 point game, however giving his shooting, you can arguably say that Jayson was very unfortunate not to win MVP in what was his second appearance.

With the rising stars game now in the books, his chance to come away with a trophy from this year’s weekend is still possible. The Celtics forward will now turn his attention to Saturday night, and the Taco Bell Skills Challenge. Tatum is currently +600 to win the contest.

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For Kyrie, he will now prepare himself for the main event on Sunday night, where he is set to make his sixth All-Star appearance. He also now boasts an unbeaten coaching record, which is sure to be a big talking point when the Celtics get back together following the All-Star break.

You can find the full schedule of the weekend’s action in Charlotte here.

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