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With the season on the line, Robert Williams ruled out and fellow All-Star Jaylen Brown on the mend, Jayson Tatum delivered. The Boston Celtics star went off for 50 points in 41 minutes, securing the C’s a 118-110 victory over the Washington Wizards and helping punch a ticket to a first-round playoff matchup with the Brooklyn Nets.
Tatum’s brilliance was on full display on Tuesday night. At just 23 years old, the St. Louis native flaunted poise and a scoring prowess well beyond his age. Already bolstering multiple All-Star appearances and an All-NBA Third-Team selection under his belt, Wizards head coach Scott Brooks believes Tatum has only reached the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his career trajectory — a career trajectory that Brooks expects to unravel in front of our eyes in rapid time.
“He’s a great player,” Brooks said of Tatum following the game. “He’s not a great young player, he’s a great player. And he’s gonna be an MVP in this league soon.”
If anyone knows a thing or two about MVP caliber players, it would be Brooks. Over the past 13 years, the Wizards’ head man has coached three such players; Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook.
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Kemba Doubles Down on Brooks’ Take
While Celtics’ point guard Kemba Walker has never played alongside an MVP-winning player in the past, he believes that is bound to change. Having a front-row ticket to Tatum’s excellence for the past two seasons, Walker firmly agrees with Brooks’ assessment of Tatum.
“Mhmm, he’s right about that,” Walker said in agreeance to Brook’s MVP take. “It ain’t new to me. I’ve been watching this guy put in this kind of work over the last year or so, year or two. So I’m here for the ride. It’s fun. It’s always exciting to see him go off the way he goes off… and we’re going to need that from him throughout this whole run.”
As for Walker, while Tatum’s performance was the biggest takeaway from Tuesday’s play-in game — and rightfully so — the veteran guard also answered the bell in the C’s most important game of the season. Dropping 29 points against the Wizards, Walker has now scored 29-plus points in four of his last five games as he steps up his scoring duties in the wake of Jaylen Brown’s injury.
Bradley Beal Weighs In
Tatum’s output on Tuesday night was just the latest in a historic tear for the Celtics wing. Since April 9th, he’s averaged an outstanding 30.9 ppg, while hitting the half-century mark in scoring on three separate occasions. Tatum’s three 50-plus point outings paced the NBA in 2020-21, which includes Eastern Conference scoring champion (31.3 ppg) and childhood friend Bradley Beal.
“He’s a special talent, man,” said Beal of Tatum. “And I’ve been saying it since he was in diapers, so it doesn’t surprise me.”
Of course, Beal has been overly complimentary when it comes to Tatum over the years, typically fueling trade chatter. Yet, we’ll save the “bring Bradley to Boston” talks for another day, as the Celtics have more pressing concerns on their hands.
The Cs will kick off the first round of the playoffs on Saturday when they travel to Brooklyn to take on the Nets in the Barclays Center.
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