Celtics’ Jayson Tatum Made NBA History Despite Brutal Loss to Cavaliers
The Boston Celtics dropped a crucial game on Friday night to the one team ahead of them in the Eastern Conference standings, the Cleveland Cavaliers, 123-116.
The Celtics were up big for most of the game, but the Cavaliers fought back like no other and captured the win to keep them at arm’s distance of the Celtics and the No. 1 seed
It was a crucial loss for the Celtics, but from the start of it, at least in the first half, it appeared that we would get an all-time game from Jayson Tatum.
Tatum showed up and showed out in front of his home fans, especially in the first half. He had one heck of a first 24 minutes of the game, recording 30 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.
According to the NBA X account, that’s the first time in the play-by-play era (1997-98) that those numbers have been reached in any half.
Overall, Tatum finished the game with 46 points on 19-for-37 shooting from the field, 16 rebounds, nine assists, and three blocks in 41 minutes of action.
Tatum came out of the gates hot and propelled his team to a massive lead in the first quarter. Unfortunately for the Celtics, they were not able to sustain that.
The 26-year-old would rather have the win over his incredible performance. That wasn’t the only storyline surrounding Tatum that night.
A video of him went viral during the first quarter. After he buried a three, the Cavaliers called timeout, and as he was making his way to the bench, he was seen waving his arm dismissively and yelling something that looked suspiciously like “F*** out of here, man.”
Fans on social media flamed the young star after that, especially since it led to a loss for the Celtics.
Fans on social media flamed the young star after that, especially since it led to a loss for the Celtics.
Tatum will continue to get hate for one reason or another, but there is no doubt he is having a heck of a season.
In the season, Tatum is averaging 27.0 points per game, 8.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 1.1 steals while shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from three in 57 games and 36.4 minutes of action.
He will look to lead his team back to the win column on Sunday against the Denver Nuggets.
While it certainly wasn’t Tatum’s fault that the Celtics could secure the lead, you wouldn’t know any better if you stood on X and did not watch the game.
The Celtics secured the big lead in the first quarter and led most of the game because of the 26-year-old superstar.
Tatum had arguably his best game of the season, recording 46 points on 19-for-37 shooting from the field, 16 rebounds, nine assists, and three blocks in 41 minutes of action. The game was filled with playoff intensity, and you could see that from the moment of the first tip.
The fans in Boston were electric, but that all came crumbling down after Cleveland’s incredible fight.
The Cavaliers had superstar performances by their star backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. On top of that, the potential Defensive Player of the Year, Evan Mobley, turned his attention towards the offensive end, especially in the fourth quarter.
The Cavaliers tightened the screws defensively, and the Celtics had no answer for that down the stretch.
It was a tough loss for the Celtics, and per usual, fans came after Tatum despite his spectacular performance.