Jayson Tatum says he’s not at his best yet. He sure looked the part for Boston in a Game 3 win
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jayson Tatum launched his final 3-point shot — a dagger, in NBA parlance — and the tearing of the net could be heard from across the court.
Tatum thumped his chest in a pure adrenaline rush moment for the big bucket that calmed the crowd, dashed the 76ers’ hopes of a late run and served as a reminder that the six-time NBA All-Star is as close to elite as he was before a ruptured right Achilles tendon cost him most of the regular season.
Advertisement
Tatum warned after the Celtics beat the 76ers in Game 3 of their first-round series that, no, he’s not back to 100 percent in his recovery.
Not yet, at least.
He could have fooled the Sixers.
With a little help from longtime partner and NBA champion Jaylen Brown, Tatum scored 25 points and played 42 minutes in the Celtics’ 108-100 win Friday night for a 2-1 series lead. Tatum made 5 of 9 3-pointers and combined with Brown to score 19 of the Celtics’ 29 points in the fourth quarter.
“It might not seem like it because I’m back playing, but it’s been a very, very long time for me to not do what I love to do,” Tatum said. “I can’t stress this enough, the fact that I can just put my uniform on and run out there with the team is a win for me.”
Advertisement
Boston also had a pretty big W and bounced back from a surprise Game 2 loss at home that injected a dose of confidence into All-Star Tyrese Maxey, rookie standout VJ Edgecombe to tear up the home court in the series ahead of Sunday’s Game 4 in Philadelphia.
Tatum returned for the final 16 games of the regular season and averaged 21.8 points and shot 41% from the floor. He scored 25 points in Boston’s Game 1 rout and had 19 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in the Game 2 loss.
Celtics fans — Tatum raised his arm in celebration toward a small pocket near the visitors’ tunnel — want Tatum to be Tatum, like now. Especially if the Celtics want to win a second NBA title under coach Joe Mazzulla. Mazzulla, Tatum and the Celtics know there is still a process to go through in this comeback and that perfect health won’t be found in the first round of the playoffs.
Tatum was carried off the floor with a ruptured right Achilles tendon in Game 4 of the Celtics’ Eastern Conference semifinal loss to the Knicks last season. The next day’s surgery plunged him into nearly 10 months of rehabilitation.
Advertisement
It ended on March 6 with his season debut. Tatum didn’t say how close he was to 100% but – yes, it’s close.
“Expectations of what people want me to do is the last thing that crossed my mind,” Tatum said. “The amount of joy I was able to find and being out there with my teammates is all I can think about.”
Philadelphia played without center Joel Embiid again for Game 3 as he continues to return to practice following an April 9 appendectomy.
Maxey scored 31 points and teamed with Paul George and Edgecombe to keep the Sixers afloat in front of a raucous crowd that included Allen Iverson and Julius Erving.
Advertisement
Fans were already on their feet when the Sixers dropped the ball in the fourth and roared when Maxey let a 28-footer fly and hit it for an 85-84 lead.
Tatum and Brown — who also scored 25 points — are simply too experienced, too talented, too cool in the clutch to let a little crowd noise and the pesky Sixers rattle them.
Brown scored eight straight points in the bottom of the fourth for a 96-92 lead and passed Robert Parrish and Bill Russell to rank seventh on Boston’s career playoff scoring list with 2,695 points.
“No moment is too big,” Brown said. “Great players make important plays. »
Advertisement
That wasn’t lost on Maxey, the Eastern Conference’s first All-Star starter who tried to carry the Sixers in Embiid’s absence.
“The whole stretch. They don’t go too high or too low,” Maxey said. “They all know where they want to get to. They’ve been together for a while. In our case, you have to fight like hell and push them to their limits.”
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
