The Boston Celtics may be down 3-1 in this best-of-seven first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets but based on how their players are acting, they still feel like they have a fighter’s chance.
Thanks in large to the stupendous play by fourth-year star, Jayson Tatum, the shamrocks were able to secure their first win of the Quarterfinals this past Friday, as they finished with a final score of 125-119 while Tatum went on to drop a whopping 50 points.
Coming into his fourth consecutive postseason, everyone expected the wing to continue his proven track record of excellence under the bright lights of such competitive play, and, through four games he has yet to disappoint.
In 35.9 minutes Tatum is finding himself boasting per-game averages of 30.3 points, five boards, 4.5 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks on 42 percent shooting from the floor and 40 percent shooting from deep.
His production on both sides of the ball has been so unbelievable, in fact, that not only is he the clear-cut best performer on the Boston Celtics, but when stacked up against the young stars aged 23 and younger who are logging minutes in the 2021 NBA Postseason, the folks at Bleacher Report believe he’s in the upper echelon of such talents.
To be more exact, writer Mo Dakhil recently went about and gave out letter grades to seven different players that fall into this specific category and, of them, Jayson Tatum found himself bestowed the third-best rating with a crisp ‘A’:
"The Celtics have limped into the playoffs this year with Jaylen Brown, Kemba Walker and Robert Williams all banged up. Tatum has had to put the team on his back against the juggernaut Brooklyn Nets. In this series, he has averaged 30.3 points and shot 40 percent from three. He dropped a 50 point performance in a surprising win over the Nets in Game 3, then followed it up with 40 points in their loss in Game 4.Tatum is a star and a proven playoff performer. With his play this postseason, it is easy to view him as the centerpiece of a future championship team.Scoring a combined 90 points over two games in a series where the Celtics are greatly outmatched is a feat."
Ahead of him are only the likes of Trae Young and Deandre Ayton, both of whom rightfully were given a stupendous A+ rating for their performances, while Luka Doncic and Ja Morant are the two directly behind him in the rankings with an A- and B+, respectively.
Though they’ll almost certainly be seeing their team be trounced from the first round of the playoffs this season, Boston Celtics fans should always keep their heads up high knowing that they have a guy like Jayson Tatum in tow moving forward.