Here’s what Jayson Tatum said about the NBA’s report that he traveled on buzzer-beater
"They missed a lot of [expletive] ... but they didn't call it so we won."
Jayson Tatum’s overtime buzzer beater against the Raptors was marred somewhat by the NBA’s last-two-minute report from the game, which indicated that the Celtics superstar committed a travel before the shot.
The L2M also vindicated Boston’s feelings that Jaylen Brown was fouled away from the ball, leading to the improvised fancy footwork by Tatum. The NBA noted that was among a few missed calls made by the officials in Saturday’s overtime period.
On Friday afternoon, Tatum addressed his travel for the first time since the report came out.
“They said Jakob Poeltl had a three-second call, then they said I fouled him, then they said JB got fouled, and then they said I traveled,” Tatum said. “So, they missed a lot of [expletive]. They didn’t call it, so we won.
Tatum added he still doesn’t think he traveled on the play.
Many hypothetical scenarios could arise based on any of those missed foul calls being made in the moment. But, as Tatum said, none of them were called, and the result of the play was a clutch made by Boston’s leading scorer.
Tatum’s reputation as a clutch scorer is growing, too; he leads all NBA players in shots to tie or take the lead in the final five seconds of regulation or overtime since the start of the 2019 season.
Tatum followed up his clutch performance against Toronto with a dominant night on Tuesday to knock off the previously undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers. As of Friday, NBA.com ranked Tatum second on the MVP ladder, only behind former MVP Nikola Jokic.
Tatum and the Celtics look to extend their win streak against the Washington Wizards Friday night.
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