All-Star MVP Jayson Tatum denies the opponent 40 points, rescues the Celtics in extra time
Having just won the NBA All-Star Game MVP title after helping Team Giannis win over Team LeBron in Utah, Jayson Tatum continues to play the hero when he returns to the Boston Celtics.
The trip to the Indiana Pacers' field was more difficult than expected by Tatum and his teammates. Despite leading 16 points (62-46) at times, the Celtics lost the game and let the opponent equalize or even rise (the score was 90-86 in the middle of the third half).
After four invincible innings, the Pacers and Celtics pulled each other into extra time in an exciting doubles match. Here, Jayson Tatum's class spoke up.
Jayson Tatum's winning ball partly reflected his performance throughout the match. Today was the day when Tatum finished without feeling, especially in the first two innings with only 1-8 FG.
But at the crucial moment, the level of the player born in 1998 spoke up. He totaled 8-17 FG from the third half to the end, scoring 31 points with 12 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals, plus a successful tip-in at the OT.
Jaylen Brown is right behind Tatum with 30 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists. Malcolm Brogdon (24 points), Derrick White (17 points) and Marcus Smart (15 points) are the remaining names to achieve double-digit in this match.
As for the Indiana Pacers, today is a brave day for the home team, even though the other side is the top team in the Eastern rankings.
The most prominent is striker Myles Turner with career-high 40 points, 12 rebounds. Despite being a bigman, Turner caused a fever with 8 successful 3-point results in the whole match, reaching a rate of 80% (8-10 3PT).
Returning All-Star Tyrese Haliburton contributed 22 points and career-high 14 assists. Unfortunately, the Indianapolis team's upstream effort was unsuccessful.
This victory helped the Boston Celtics monopolize the top of the Eastern standings with a record of 43-17, temporarily leaving the Milwaukee Bucks in second place (with a record of 41-17).
The next match of the green shirt team will be an extremely watchable competition with the Philadelphia 76ers, the team is flying high with an unbeaten streak thanks to the sublimation of the duo Joel Embiid - James Harden.
