Jayson Tatum is the next big NBA star. It’s only a matter of time before the rings and individual awards arrive, so in the meantime, he continues to build an impressive resume despite being only 25 years old. The leader of the most historic franchise in the NBA with the Lakers, he is one of those players who thrives when he plays the most, a quality that few have and that separates the true stars from the rest. .
Tatum already has 13 elimination matches. On 13 occasions, Tatum’s Celtics have been forced to win a game if they did not want to be eliminated, situations which they have successfully resolved eight times, while they have lost five.
The latest example of Tatum’s ability to appear was this morning. With his back against the wall, Tatum had 33 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 blocks in a 3–0 win for the Heat. It’s not just the how but the how, as 25 of those points came in the second half with the Celtics trailing.
Another example of Tatum’s great competitive spirit occurred against the Sixers. With a 3-2 tie against a team of Harden and Embiid, Tatum appeared at the right time to save his team despite his terrible play so far. For 40 minutes, Tatum signed a terrible game with 1/14 shooting from the field, but his four consecutive three-pointers gave his Celtics the victory (and life).
So many examples of his ‘killer’ gene reflected in a brutal improvement in his stats in the elimination matches compared to his numbers in the regular stage matches. Tatum improves in nearly every aspect of the game when needed, signing 27.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.1 block in the 13 elimination games he’s played so far, vastly improving on 22.5 points, 7 rebounds, 3.3 Have done assists and 0.7 blocks he averaged per regular season game.
