He knows it, there's the extra confidence he already has, and it's more confidence for him to go out there and be the player we see in him. "He takes his time with it, and we trust him 120%. "It's just his maturity with it," Smart said. On a night full of superlative performances and impressive moments on both sides - Marcus Smart finished with 31 points, including scoring Boston's first 10 of the game Lou Williams had 35 points and eight assists, including nearly beating the Celtics by himself in the fourth quarter Leonard had 28 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists and Walker had 19 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists - his clearly stood out among the rest. Tatum was not only competing against the best players - he also looked like one of them. "I enjoy competing against the best players." "Any time you get a chance to play against guys you look up to, or arguably are the best guys in the league, it definitely kind of raises your level of play," Tatum told ESPN. Tatum said getting the chance to play against players such as Leonard and Paul George - who left the game in the second quarter because of a strained left hamstring - helped boost his level of play. It was a tour de force - one that came against one of the league's best teams and with its best players at his position as Tatum prepares to head to Chicago this weekend. Drawing fouls? He finished the game with 10 free throw attempts, tying his career high (and showing the one blemish on his performance, as he made only six of them).Īnd defensively? All Tatum did was hold Clippers star Kawhi Leonard to 3-for-11 shooting when he was guarding him - including 1-for-7 from the field in the fourth quarter and the two overtime periods, according to Second Spectrum's player tracking data. Efficient scoring? He finished the game 14-for-23 from the field, including 5-for-10 from 3-point range. Durability? In a double-overtime game, he played more minutes than anyone on the court. But if this is as good as it gets, the Celtics will still be quite happy. "He was the best player on the court tonight."īy saying "thus far," Walker insinuated that Tatum has room to grow his game. "Thus far, yeah," Walker said, when asked if this had been the best game Tatum had ever played. ClippersīOSTON - Since Kemba Walker signed with the Celtics last summer, he has repeatedly spoken about the potential Jayson Tatum possesses.Īnd after Tatum turned in a master class performance Thursday night, finishing with 39 points and nine rebounds in just under 48 minutes in Boston's 141-133 double-overtime victory over the LA Clippers in the final game before he appears in his first All-Star Game, Walker had more to say. Kemba Walker: Jayson Tatum 'best player on court' in Celtics' 2OT win vs. Even with the Raptors and the 76ers lurking.You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser Even with the low-key Evil Empire juggernaut they’re building down in Miami. Even in a suddenly toothsome Eastern Conference. If this is the Tatum the Celtics are going to get, this can absolutely be an NBA Finals team. They wanted him to have the ball in his hands with the game on the line, and he delivered. He was in full-on attack mode, and you could see as Walker and the other Celtics kept deferring to him. In crunch time, he was calling for the ball with Kawhi Leonard guarding him, and scoring. It was one of those games when the Celtics - who have plenty of scoring talent in Kemba Walker, Gordon Hayward, and (certainly last night anyway) Marcus Smart -felt like a team that belongs to one man. But the stat line doesn’t even capture how important Tatum felt to the team in the moment. Tatum was the star on Thursday night, finishing with 39 points and 9 rebounds. (There are too many good teams to even suggest this could be an NBA Finals preview, but if it turns out to be, sign me up.) Forgive me for garbling up that electoral college cliche, but I feel it applies to the Boston Celtics this season, who showed a glimpse of what they could become on Thursday night in a more-thrilling-than-it-had-any-business-being double-overtime win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
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