Tatum passes Larry Bird in Celtics' latest impressive milestone originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Jayson Tatum has written his name into the Boston Celtics history books once again. This time, it's the passing of franchise legend Larry Bird. Celtic have scored the most points (30 points) Through the seven seasons.
Tatum, the No. 3 overall pick in 2017, scored 41 points in Boston's 118-110 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night, marking the 128th game of his career with at least 30 points, a franchise record. It became. Tatum passed Bird, who had scored 127 points in his first seven seasons.
Tatum came out of the game energized Tuesday night, scoring 31 points in the first half alone, tying his career-high for first-half total points. The Duke standout made 14 of 26 shot attempts on the night, including 5 of 11 from 3-point range and 8 of 8 from the free throw line. was.
“We had some easy games,” Tatum told NBC Sports Boston's Abby Chin about the heated first half. “We got out in transition, made some free throws, made some open threes and kickouts. We had a good rhythm.”
At one point in the game, the Celtics held a 20-point lead, but the Nets fought back in the fourth quarter to put pressure on Boston. Putting his team first, Tatum served as a decoy by holding off on goals for much of the second half, forcing his teammates to take open shots.
”[I was] “I knew I had 31 points, I knew they were going to protect me in a different way, so I got assists, hockey assists,” Tatum said of his second-half strategy. “We tried to move the ball and manipulate the ball.” defense. “
In addition to Tatum's five assists, the five-time All-Star also had 14 rebounds, two steals and one block, making his presence known all over the court.
The Celtics won't have much time to recover before facing the Nets again on Wednesday night in the second night of a back-to-back in Boston. Kristaps Porzingis remained sidelined Tuesday as Al Horford sat out, but with Horford absent on the second night of the back-to-back, the two Giants will likely swap roles.
