Jayson Tatum’s 4th-quarter revival halts a season-ending defeat … and a summer of misery for the Celtics
Tatum only finished with 19 points on Thursday. But the star forward made his shots count when his team needed it.Â
Six minutes was all that separated the Boston Celtics from a painful offseason on Thursday night.
Tyrese Maxey’s two made free throws handed the Philadelphia 76ers an 83-81 lead, with a raucous Philly crowd smelling blood in the water against the reigning Eastern Conference champions.
A season marked with so much promise was slipping away from the Celtics, with costly lapses in execution putting Boston on the brink at Wells Fargo Center.
There’d be plenty of blame to dole out in Boston had the score held on Broad Street.
But the weight of legacy-defining expectations and unfulfilled narratives would sit squarely on the shoulders of Jayson Tatum.
A year after Tatum dropped 46 points to keep Boston afloat in Game 6 of the 2022 Eastern Conference Semifinal against Milwaukee, the Celtics star was actively sinking his squad’s title hopes.
By the time Tatum sank his first basket on Thursday night, there were under nine minutes left in the third quarter. He missed his first 11 shots of the contest, and sat in a 1-for-14 skid as the seconds ticked away in the fourth quarter.
With his shots not falling and a summer of misery fixed on the horizon, Tatum did the only thing he could do.
Keep on firing.
“Humbly, [I’m] one of the best basketball players in the world,” Tatum said postgame. “Go through struggles, go through slumps, but it’s a long game.”
Tatum only finished with 19 points on Thursday. But the star forward made his shots count when his team needed it.
With his team’s season on the line, Tatum delivered in crunch time down in Philly, scoring 16 points in the fourth to help lift Boston to a season-saving 95-86 win in Game 6.
Tatum outscored the entire 76ers roster, 16-13, in the fourth quarter. Following Maxey’s two makes from the charity stripe, Boston reeled off a 14-3 run, with Tatum orchestrating the salvo with four 3-pointers.
It was a much-needed response from Tatum, who delivered a timely knockout blow in a game where players like Marcus Smart (22 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists), Malcolm Brogdon (4-of-6 from 3-point range), and Robert Williams (10 points, 9 rebounds) kept Boston off the ropes.
“Thankful I’ve got some great teammates that held it down. Brogdon, [Jaylen Brown], Smart, Al [Horford]. And they all trusted me,” Tatum said on ESPN’s broadcast. “They told me to keep taking great looks, it’s going to fall. Keeping impacting the game in other ways. And all that matters is we won this game. Give ourselves another chance to come back home for a Game 7.”
Tatum’s late-game heroics was one for the record books. According to OptaSTATS, Tatum is the only NBA player of the last 20 years to have three or fewer points through the first three quarters of a playoff game — and then outscore the entire opposing team in the final quarter of play.
“I said some stuff to him. ‘Keep going, I believe in you,’” Jaylen Brown said of Tatum’s performance. “Whoever was on him, I was telling him, ‘They can’t guard you. Stop being apprehensive and just go.’ If you ask him, he’d probably say that’s exactly how I drew it up, right? It doesn’t have to be pretty. Just got to get it done.”
Ideally, Tatum avoids putting himself in such sparse company again on Sunday night at TD Garden.
Boston’s top player kept his team alive for at least another game. But Tatum’s confidence in his otherworldly abilities needs to translate into tangible production much earlier in games.
Over the last three playoff contests against the 76ers, Tatum is shooting a combined 4-for-30 in the first half of action.
In some respects, Game 6 was an outlier as far as Boston’s fortunes. With Tatum ice cold, the Celtics fell into early double-digit deficits in Games 4 and 5 en route to losses.
Boston’s supporting cast managed to keep the score close throughout Game 6 as Tatum struggled to find his footing.
A stronger start from Tatum in a do-or-die Game 7 will be a welcome departure for the Celtics in this back-and-forth battle against the Sixers.
As expected, Tatum expects his teammates to have his back once again on Sunday, regardless of how Game 7 begins.
“It’s tough to believe in somebody when they only made one shot,” Tatum said. “But I know my guys believe in me until the clock hits zero.”
If Thursday’s showing was any prior indication, Tatum will not be shirking from the opportunity if the looks present themselves.
“It’s Game 7,” Tatum said. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com