Jayson Tatum Dropped 54 Points To Out Duel Kevin Durant In Boston

Sunday afternoon provided some marquee matchups in the NBA on ABC, starting with the Celtics and Nets meeting in Boston for a midday tip and a chance to watch some of the best scorers in the league go head-to-head. Jayson Tatum and Kevin Durant took the opportunity to be on the biggest national stage and put on an absolute show, dueling from start to finish in what was one of the most entertaining games of the season.

Durant finished with 37 points, 8 assists, and six rebounds on 12-of-21 shooting, as he has stepped back into the lineup and looked like he hasn’t missed a beat despite missing a month with a knee sprain. Durant had it working from all levels, getting downhill into the paint, pulling up from the midrange, and airing it out from three, as his performance made him the 23rd player in NBA history to top 25,000 points in his career.

However, while Durant shined, it was Tatum who stole the show, starting when he caught fire from three, burying big shot after big shot to force the Nets into a timeout to reassess their plan of attack on him.

The Nets would rally to take a lead in the fourth, but Tatum stayed hot from deep to keep Boston attached.

While his three-point shooting carried the Celtics early, it was his ability to get downhill and finish that was on full display down the stretch as he pushed Boston into the lead.

But for every bucket the Nets got, Tatum seemed to have the answer, with none more impressive than this split of a double team, slithering his way to the rim for a tough two.

To cross the 50-point mark for the fourth time in his young career, Tatum went to the midrange pullup with his team up just one to create a bit more separation.

All the attention paid to Tatum freed up Jaylen Brown for the dagger for Boston, as the ball swung around to the Celtics’ other star in the corner for what became a wide-open three to push their lead to six with a minute to play.

Tatum would hit 3-of-4 from the free throw line down the stretch to polish off a 126-120 win for the Celtics and get himself to 54 points, the second most of his career, on 16-of-30 shooting (8-of-15 from three). Brown chipped in 21 points, including that dagger at the end, and overall it was one of the most impressive games of Tatum’s young career, as he seemed in total control of the game from start to finish. There was no pressing, no forcing threes late, instead taking what the defense presented him in crunch time and attacking wherever he could.

The win moved Boston 1.5 games clear of the Cavs for the 5-seed in the East, just one game back of the sliding Bulls for fourth (which would mean home court advantage in the first round). For Brooklyn, the loss drops them to 32-33 and into ninth in the East, tied with Charlotte who own the tiebreaker with the Nets currently giving them the 8-seed. One would expect with Durant back and playing as well as he is, a run is coming from the Nets, but they are now five full games out of the 6-seed and any hopes of avoiding the play-in seem highly unlikely at best.