Tatum’s 34 Leads To 8 In A Row

By DJ Harding –

In Jaylen Brown’s return from a right abductor injury. The Celtics took on the Warriors in a nationally televised rematch. The duo of Brown and Tatum reunited as the duo is currently averaging a combined 58.3 which is on pace for top 10 all time. The duo both ranked in All-Star voting as Tatum is 3rd for Forwards while Brown is 3rd for Guards. Before tip-off when Jayson Tatum was asked about the Celtics success as of late he said “Just how together we are playing on both ends,” Tatum said. “We really got almost any shot we wanted every time down the floor. We got a paint threat, kicked it out, two or three extra passes from a good shot to a great shot. Everyone is playing so unselfishly and the right way. Hopefully we keep it up.” 

To begin the game Al Horford was a testament to what Tatum said as he put up 10 points and half a chase down block that got the crowd out of their seats. Despite Horford’s effort the Warriors were up 26-25 at the end of the first behind 9 points from Jordan Poole. The Second Quarter started off with a 13-2 run behind Tatum and Brogdon to make the lead 38-28 with the Celtics up 10. The Warriors clawed back in and took the lead back at the very last second of the first half as Stephen Curry stripped Tatum of the ball and shot a half court heave that shocked the crowd as they went into half up 55-54. Curry’s half court heave gave him 15 points at the half second behind Klay Thompson’s 20 points to lead the Warriors while Tatum had 13 along with Al Horford’s 10 point first quarter. 

The second half opened with the Warriors rolling with their largest lead being 9 points and ending the quarter up 7. The score at the end of the 3rd was 89-82 with the Warriors leading behind 22 points each from Steph, Klay, and Poole. The Celtics were down but not out behind 21 points from Tatum and 14 from Al Horford as Jaylen Brown struggled to this point with 4 points. The 4th quarter was a trading of baskets until the Celtics clawed back in on a quick 7-0 run which brought the Celtics within 1 and a close game. Going into crunch time with the Warriors up 104-100 Al Horford hit a 3 which brought the score within 1. Steph Curry scored a 2 which was answered by a Jaylen Brown 3 to tie it up. The Celtics got one more attempt after a missed Curry 3 with 2 seconds left and amissed Jaylen Brown heave with .5 seconds left sent the game into overtime. Jaylen Brown stepped up when needed despite a rough day for his standard as he had 11 going into overtime along with Tatum who led the Celtics with 29 and Horford having 17 at the end of the 4th. For the Warriors 3 headed monster of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Jordan Poole each had 24. Andrew Wiggins added 18 for the Warriors. 

Living up to the rematch hype through 4 quarters Overtime started with the Celtics winning the tip and Marcus Smart scoring the first bucket of overtime. That was the only bucket for the first  2 minutes of overtime before a Steph Curry 3 gave the Warriors a one point lead. Which was quickly answered by Brown which gave Boston the lead back with 2 minutes left. That was the first 2 in what became an 8 point run behind two 3 pointers from Al Horford and then Jayson Tatum to give Boston a 7 point lead. The Celtics took the lead and didn’t give it back despite a last second effort by the Warriors. The final score was 121-118 as Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 34 points followed by 20 points with Al Horford. The Warriors were led by 29 from Curry and 24 from Poole and Thompson each. When asked about the Win Tatum said “We lost the Championship and we can’t change that, the last time we played them we were too busy trying to avenge the Championship. This time we just played another regular season game with 2 great minded teams and pulled out a great win. The Celtics got their first win versus the Warriors since Game 3 of the NBA Finals all the way back in June. 

The Celtics face the Raptors on Saturday in what is now 8 straight wins for the Celtics. Boston won the previous season Matchup last year on December 5th in Toronto, where they’re going once again Saturday. That December 5th matchup was a 6 point win behind a 31 point performance by Jayson Tatum. The Celtics improve to 34-12 while the Warriors fall to below .500 with a 22-23 record. The Warriors return to action tomorrow vs the Cleveland Cavaliers.