Tatum scored a playoff career-high 50 points to carry Boston to a 125-119 victory on Friday that cut Brooklyn's lead to 2-1.
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The Brooklyn Nets looked like the dominant side in their first two games of the NBA play-offs against the Boston Celtics. But it was the home team that received a standout effort from their star Jason Tatum on Friday night. Thus, they came away with a much-needed 125-119 victory.
With the win, the Celtics gave themselves some life in this best of seven NBA play-offs series. They now avoided falling into a 3-0 hole against the heavily favoured Nets.
After largely being ineffective on the offensive end in the two games at Barclays Center, Jayson Tatum broke out in Game 3. The momentum shifted back to TD Garden as he finished the Celtics win with a game high 50 points to push.
The key factor in the Celtics losses in Brooklyn was that Jayson Tatum was basically non-existent. He scored 31 points in Games 1 and 2 combined but missed most of the second half of Game 2 after getting poked in the eye by Kevin Durant.
Already without Jaylen Brown, who’s out for the season after undergoing wrist surgery, the Celtics really couldn’t afford average performances from Tatum.
But in the game, Tatum flipped the script and delivered big time. He wasn’t average, or good, or even really good. He was incredible. Shooting a stellar 16 for 30 from the field, Tatum poured in 50 points and also added six rebounds and seven assists.
Thus he became the third youngest player in NBA history to put up 50 in a playoff game. He is just behind Michael Jordan and Jerry West, and just the sixth Celtics player to accomplish that feat.
This was just a special performance from one of the game’s best young players. The Celtics have had a rough season, but with Tatum leading the way they still have a bright future.
James Harden and Kevin Durant were impressive in their own right, as they combined for 80 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists on 24-for-42 from the field.
Kyrie Irving returned to Boston, and he was met by loud boos for the entirety of the game. Only he will know if that had anything to do with his poor outing. The fact is he had his worst game of the series. He finished with 16 points on 6 for 17 from the field and had only two assists.
These two teams will meet again on Sunday.
