Can Jayson Tatum still be ‘the guy’ after his Achilles injury? Four games into his first full season back, the answer is a resounding yes. Coming into the season, there was some question about whether or not JT would even play in back-to-backs this season, so it was a thrill and a sigh of relief just to see him active and in the starting lineup.
And not only did he play, but Tatum also put on a show for the ages, lighting up TD Garden with 40 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, and zero turnovers in 42 minutes of the Celtics’ 125-124 overtime victory over the Nets on Tuesday night.
Tatum drills OT buzzer-beater to sink Nets
And that wasn’t all. JT also came through in the clutch, for the second time in four games of this young season. This time, with his team down by one and under 3 seconds left to play in OT, Tatum received the inbounds pass from Derrick White near the top of the key, turned and took dribbles to his left, got to his spot at the left elbow, rose up, and buried the game-winner as the buzzer sounded.
In that moment, not one person was thinking about any injury or recovery, any maintenance plan, or anything else. People were thinking about the Celtics’ franchise player who put the team on his back and delivered the victory.
It was a sight to behold and another incredible performance for JT, as he was relentlessly attacking all night, getting to the free-throw line a ridiculous 22 times, making 18. He realized early on that it wasn’t going to be a great shooting night for Boston after scorching the nets on Monday night against the Bulls, and he decided to put his head down and get to the basket. Again and again.
It was apparent very early on that the Nets didn’t have a single player who could stay in front of Tatum and stop him from getting to the basket, and he didn’t stop going at them all night. He made a number of huge plays finishing at the rim and refused to settle all night long, continually bailing the Celtics out with big baskets or by getting to the line when his team’s offense went cold.
Tatum the best clutch player of his era
And they needed every last one of his 40 points on this night, as the Nets were extremely pesky and wouldn’t quit, battling back from the dead at the end of regulation, and seemingly having this game sewn up before JT’s heroics. It was an ugly game, with a lot of things that the Celtics have to work on, but in the end, a win is a win, and this was a vintage Tatum performance for the ages.
With the winning hoop, Tatum tied DeMar DeRozan for the NBA lead with 17 game-tying or go-ahead baskets in the final 10 seconds of a game since he entered the league. It was also his 7th game-winning shot with under 3 seconds left since 2019-20, which is the most in the league. He also has the highest field goal percentage on shots to tie or take the lead with under 24 seconds remaining since 1996-97. Oh yeah, and he also has the most 40/5/5 games with zero turnovers in Celtics history and the 5th-most of all time.
If it wasn’t clear before, it should be now. Tatum is back. He’s all the way back. He’s back to being one of the very best players in the entire NBA. He’s back in the mix for first-team All-NBA and even the MVP Award. And he’s back to try to lead the Celtics to yet another championship.
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