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Where does the Celtics’ Game 3 win rank among Jayson Tatum’s best playoff performances?
Maybe it’s dangerous to rate such things in the immediate afterglow of a thrilling victory, but this victory over the Pacers will be remembered for a long time.
INDIANAPOLIS — Jayson Tatum has played in 107 playoff games in his seven-year NBA career. It is not a challenge to identify his best performance.
It has to be his 46-point effort in Game 6 of the 2022 Eastern Conference semifinals against the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks. The Celtics trailed, 3-2, in the series. They were on the road. It looked bleak.
The Bucks were coming off a Game 5 win in which this one-man defensive scheme named Jrue Holiday — perhaps you have heard of him? — made two sensational late plays, including a midcourt steal against Marcus Smart that suddenly looks awfully familiar.
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Tatum’s best playoff game? No doubt.
Game 6, Milwaukee, 2022 must be the choice.
Oh, yeah: And we just witnessed the runner-up.
Maybe it’s dangerous to rate such things in the immediate afterglow of a thrilling victory. But this one is going to stick.
Tatum scored 36 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out 8 assists — including one certain to make his career highlight reel — as the Celtics rallied from an 18-point deficit to stagger the Indiana Pacers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Saturday night, 114-111.
The Celtics now lead the series 3-0, with Game 4 Monday.
It was an extraordinarily complete effort by Tatum, who became the first player in NBA history to reach the aforementioned point, rebound, and assist totals without committing a single turnover.
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What did he do? Just everything.
He scored 15 points in the first quarter to set the tone. He provided stout post defense in the second half after Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam ate the Celtics alive inside during the first half, outscoring them in the paint 42-18 in the first 24 minutes. (This was truly the first time the Celtics have missed Kristaps Porzingis during this playoff run.)
Every one of Tatum’s 10 rebounds seemed to come in heavy traffic. He knocked down an enormous 3-pointer with 1 minute 41 seconds to play, cutting the Pacers lead to 109-106 after the Celtics had come up short on multiple previous attempts to draw closer.
Four of his assists came in the fourth quarter, when, rather than forcing his own offense, he did what the truly elite are supposed to do: he elevated his teammates.
One of the assists, a perfect behind-the-back bounce pass from the paint to Al Horford waiting in the corner, has to be the most creative and bold assist of his career. Horford, who drilled seven 3-pointers, the most in a playoff game by a player 37 years old or older, knocked down the shot with 1:12 left, cutting the Pacers’ lead to 111-109.
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Horford offered a fine quote about Tatum’s pass when it was over: “It’s pretty special … I don’t know how he got it there, he had to improvise. He just continued to time after time make the right play. That was an unbelievable play.”
But Jaylen Brown, who has increasingly been working blue behind the microphone this postseason, had an even better — and more succinct — one: “Hang it in the [expletive] Louvre.”
It is important to note that Tatum, as extraordinary as he was (save for four missed free throws, if you really want to nitpick), did not need to do this alone, and better yet, he knew it. He trusted that Horford would be where he expected him to be.
“We always talk about spacing, making sure we’re in the right spots,’’ he said. “I trusted that he was going to be there, he trusted that I was going to make the right read. That was a hell of a shot that he made.”
And it was a hell of an effort by the Celtics starters. Brown scored 24 points on 10 of 18 shooting. Derrick White made a crucial late three and dished out 7 assists. Horford finished with 23 points and 3 blocks.
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Then there’s Holiday, who was questionable to play after feeling under the weather and missing shootaround earlier Saturday. He was quiet early – he didn’t score his first basket until late in the first half — but with the game hanging in the balance, he was the most energetic player on the court.
In the final minute alone, Holiday converted a driving layup (off a Tatum pass), drew a foul, and hit the free throw to give the Celtics their first lead since the first quarter at 112-111.
With 3.1 seconds left and the Celtics still up by the same score, he pounced on Andrew Nembhard’s dribble and swiped the ball in a manner identical to what he did to Smart and the Celtics two years ago. Then Holiday sunk the free throws for the final margin, because that’s what winning players do. I wish this guy played his whole career here, don’t you?
“Whatever it takes,” said Brown about the Celtics’ mindset. “One game at a time. Play like a team. Win like a team. Lose like a team. Tonight, we just stayed with it, and now we’re one game from getting back to the Finals.”
If for some reason you watch sports debate shows with the sound unmuted, you’re aware that Tatum has received a ridiculous amount of scrutiny during a playoff run in which his team is now 11-2.
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It’s usually a waste of effort to try to shame the shameless, but Tatum answered those critics, nitwits, and Kendrick Perkins in the best way possible.
He played spectacularly and selflessly when his team was desperate for both.
Saturday night, Jayson Tatum delivered the second-best performance of his playoff career.
Fine, we’ll add a caveat.
It was his second-best performance … for now.
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