Jayson Tatum has made plenty of big shots. This one carried a little more meaning than simply rescuing the Celtics from a game they nearly gave away.
“That was a hell of a feeling,” Tatum said after Tuesday’s 125-124 overtime win over the Nets, via the Boston Herald. “Just kind of getting back to doing things that I used to do before I was injured.”
His pull-up jumper from the left elbow beat the overtime buzzer, giving him his first game-winning shot since returning from Achilles surgery in March.
Paul George offered a simpler explanation. “We got the ball to the MVP,” he said, “and he took us home.”
Tatum finished with 40 points, eight assists and no turnovers, joining Larry Bird as the only Celtics to produce that combination. Boston improved to 3-1 despite surrendering a four-point lead in the final four seconds of regulation.
Not the recommended route to a third straight win. But Tatum made it work.
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Coach Joe Mazzulla saw more than the final shot.
“He just gave the game exactly what it needed,” Mazzulla said. “He was patient. He was getting downhill.”
Tatum also briefly exited after banging knees with Julius Randle, then returned to finish the job. After everything involved in getting back from an Achilles injury, delivering the last word again clearly felt good.
As Mazzulla put it, “You got to see his greatness.”
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