Eighteen months out from a torn Achilles that cost him the majority of last season, Jayson Tatum said he's "really starting to feel like my old self" after burying a buzzer beater to lift the Boston Celtics to a thrilling 125-124 overtime win over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday. Tatum finished with 40 points, eight assists and five rebounds on 10-of-20 shooting from the field, made a career-high 18 free throws and did not commit a single turnover. He now has seven game-winning shots with three or fewer seconds remaining in the 2020s, which is the most by any player this decade.
With 2.3 seconds remaining in overtime, the Celtics had the ball thanks to a bizarre decision by Nets rookie Mikel Brown Jr. to take a contested layup instead of waiting to be fouled. Everyone knew the ball was going to Tatum in that situation, and he took the inbound pass from Derrick White, spun to his left, took two dribbles and rose up for a wide-open free-throw line jumper that caught nothing but net and sent TD Garden into hysterics. "I'm 18 months out [from the torn Achilles].
For me, it's about progress and how I'm moving," Tatum said on the broadcast after the game. "It's little moments throughout the game where I do something, and it's not always with the ball, where I'm like, 'Ooh, it's coming back to me and I'm really starting to feel like my old self.' I feel really good about that." HAVE YOURSELF A NIGHT, JAYSON TATUM!☘️ 40 PTS ☘️ 8 AST☘️ 5 REB☘️ 1 @TISSOT BUZZER-BEATER IN OTTonight marks his 7th career game-winning shot with under 3 seconds remaining... that's the most since the start of the 2019-20 NBA season! pic.twitter.com/I0du5uQhvS "We got the ball to the MVP, and he took us home," Tatum's new teammate Paul George said. This was Tatum's 30th career 40-point game, which is tied for the second-most in Celtics history behind Larry Bird (47), and his fourth 40-point game without a turnover.
Every other player in Celtics history has four such games combined. "It was a hell of a feeling, just kind of getting back to doing things that I used to do before I was injured and sharing that moment with my teammates on the court," Tatum said during his postgame press conference. "Seeing them rally and be excited for me." The first week of the season has been a roller coaster for Tatum, who shot 6 of 23 from the field in the Celtics' season-opening loss to the Detroit Pistons, in which they blew a 22-point lead, and has had to deal with off-court drama regarding his relationship with former teammate Jaylen Brown.
But on the court, he's been terrific since that first game and has looked more than capable of carrying the new-look Celtics. He poured in 36 points and hit a barrage of clutch jumpers to secure a win over the reigning champion New York Knicks on Oct. 23, and is averaging 33 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and 1.3 steals on 49.2% shooting in the last three games -- all Celtics wins. "I've been in his position, being out from an injury," George said.
"You come back to the game, you see the game differently. From what I see, it's a maturity. You see a mature JT out there.
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