With a game-high 41 points and 14 rebounds, five-time NBA All-Star Jayson Tatum led the Boston Celtics to a 118-110 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.
With Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Kristaps PorziņĿis in their starting lineup, the Celtics have one of the top five-man units in the NBA. Although Porziņģis missed Tuesday’s game due to a lower back contusion sustained against the Miami Heat on Sunday, they didn’t appear to be having any trouble without the Latvian center.
Every one of the five Celtics starters scored in double figures as they dominated Brooklyn’s defense, with experienced big man Al Horford filling in at the five.
The 25-year-old was headed toward surpassing his career-high of 60, then he relaxed
After the game, Tatum remarked, “We’ve got a really good team where in any given possession we could have two, three advantages and it’s not just going to be me.”
“So all I have to do is realize that and that I depend on my teammates.” I need everyone, and everyone needs everyone else.
Being the greatest player on the top team in the NBA, Tatum is working his way into the debate for Most Valuable Player with an average of 27 points and nearly nine rebounds per game. The fans even chanted “MVP” for him during the game, even though it was being played at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
Following defeat in the NBA Finals in 2022 and subsequent elimination in the Eastern Conference finals
Following the game, Tatum’s primary goal, according to Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla, is to win. “I believe that understanding that he must perform well for us each and every night, even though it looks different every night, is part of his growth as a player.”
The Celtics, who are now leading the Eastern Conference and improved to 42-12 following the victory, are statistically the greatest team in the NBA. The Minnesota Timberwolves are leading the West with 38-16, while the Cleveland Cavaliers are six games back in the East with 35-17.
Even with Ben Simmons returning to the starting lineup, the Nets could not cross the threshold, even with the scoring heroics of Mikal Bridges (27 points) and Cam Thomas (26 points) on the wings. Brooklyn
