Jayson Tatum made more history with the Boston Celtics against the Orlando Magic on October 22, but unlike the history he made in the previous two games against the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers, it was an achievement all his own.
While Tatum and Jaylen Brown became the third set of teammates ever to record 35 points apiece during their opening night win over the Philadelphia 76ers and then turned around for their road opener against the Miami Heat and became the second duo in Boston Celtics history to score 25 points in each of their team’s first 2 games of a season — joining Robert Parish and Larry Bird, who accomplished the same in 1984-85 (h/t ESPN Stats & Info) — on Saturday, he became the first player in Celtics history to amass 100 points through the first 3 games of a season (h/t Taylor Snow).
Against the Magic, Tatum shot 14/21 overall, 4/10 from the 3-point line, and 8/9 on free throws. He also had 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Derrick White had his best Boston Celtics performance against the Magic
Derrick White has been floated as a trade chip, being tabbed by MassLive’s Brian Robb as someone the Boston Celtics could flip for a ‘bigger fish,’ but on October 22 he was indispensable against the Orlando Magic.
The fill-in starter in Robert Williams’ absence went for 27 points, 4 assists, and 4 rebounds in 37 minutes. White, along with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart, all played over 35 minutes.
While many felt White was dispensable following the acquisition of Malcolm Brogdon, the former San Antonio Spurs guard is making a case to keep his starting job when ‘The Timelord’ returns sometime in December/January.
Interim head coach Joe Mazzulla will have a tough decision to make this winter, but it’s certainly a good problem to have six players worthy of being included in the starting five. White continuing this level of play will, at worst, form the league’s best second unit backcourt with Brogdon.