Jayson Tatum rises from ashes in fourth quarter to keep Boston Celtics season alive

With the Boston Celtics’ season on the line for the second straight campaign, Jayson Tatum showed up when it mattered the most.

As Jayson Tatum’s idol, Kobe Bryant, once said, “The moment you give up is the moment you let someone else win.” With the season on the brink away from home, Tatum embodied those words from his childhood hero during the most important win of the Boston Celtics season in Game 6 against the 76ers.

It is not always about how you start, it is about how you finish. Behind his own self-confidence, and the belief of his teammates, Tatum kept shooting the ball despite beginning the game 0/11 from the floor. The basket seemed to have a lid on it to at the beginning of Game 6 at the Wells Fargo Center with the Celtics attempting to bring the series back to the TD Garden for a Game 7 on Sunday. It was shaping up to be one of those games where turnovers were the main story surrounding Boston, but even with all the giveaways, the resiliency of this ball club would not let their season come to a close this soon.

Using some remarkable mental toughness, the 2022/2023 All-Star Game MVP netted 16 of his 19 points in the final 12 minutes, knocking down four 3-pointers with under four minutes to go to put the Philadelphia 76ers’ hopes of eliminating their rivals on their home floor to bed.

Critics can continue to talk about the former Duke star’s struggles at the beginning of playoff games, but when it comes to crunch time, there is nobody else Boston trusts more with the ball in their hands. It was just the seventh time in his postseason career that Tatum shot worse than 25% from the field in a single game. None of that proved to be significant on Thursday night.

The day after he was named to the All-NBA First Team, Tatum could have chosen to run away from his shot late in the game with the knowledge of his struggles. Instead, he gained confidence seeing the ball go through the net with four free throws earlier in the quarter. Those shots may not receive any praise, but it has to be said that they assisted in the superstar’s willingness to take control with under five minutes remaining.

Early on in the contest, Tatum still managed to affect the game in all sorts of ways, collecting two blocks to go along with seven rebounds and six assists in the first 24 minutes of the ball game. The five-time All-Star never let the fact that his shot was not falling affect the rest of his game. With 8:44 left in the first half, Tatum came into the game for Malcolm Brogdon. Within the first three minutes, while he missed a shot, the Boston Celtics No. 0 had a blocked shot, two vital defensive rebounds, and an assist to Marcus Smart for a three. This game was just another example of how his offense can come and go, but his influence on the game itself is always steady.

Postgame, Mazzulla made it clear his feelings surrounding Tatum’s game as a whole:

"“The standard that is set for him to where if he’s not scoring, he’s not playing good basketball is wrong, he has had multiple game this series that when he is at his best, he doesn’t need to score…He plays with a level of poise regardless of how the game is going.”"

Through all the struggles, Jayson Tatum continues to remind everyone why he is one of the best players in the world

His teammates continued to put their faith in him, distributing the ball to Tatum throughout the game even though it was clear it was not going to be his best offensive night. It was not his 46-point explosion in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Milwaukee Bucks in 2022, but in the end, it followed the same pattern, making shots down the stretch.

Just like his performance against the defending NBA champions in this exact game a year ago, Tatum had 16 fourth-quarter points. Those two nights are two of the three fourth quarters in his postseason career in which he had eclipsed 16 or more points.

The All-NBA Boston Celtics forward did not shoot over 50% from the field or 46% from beyond the arc, but what the St. Louis native did do was make a statement down the stretch to keep the C’s season alive for the second consecutive campaign.