Jayson Tatum found himself wide open in the paint, took a feed from Marcus Smart and didn’t hesitate to deliver a late Christmas Day stocking stuffer on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s head.
Tatum’s one-handed poster slam on the Bucks star sent TD Garden into delirium, but the Celtics star didn’t react. No flex, no emotion, Tatum put his head down and went straight back to defense.
He’s got bigger goals this season.
In a highly-anticipated Christmas Day showdown against another MVP candidate, Tatum came on top again. The Celtics star poured in 41 points – which included a monster 20-point third – and completely outperformed Antetokounmpo as the C’s recovered their offensive potency and cemented themselves atop the Eastern Conference with a dominant 139-118 victory over the Bucks.
“They bring out the best in us,” Tatum said.
The Celtics were due for this kind of performance, and it came at the perfect time. After their first slide of the season, in which they lost five of six and suddenly looked mortal, the Celtics got back on track on Friday, using a late surge to beat the Timberwolves. But they knew they had to bring their best Sunday, or the Bucks would “embarrass” them, as Al Horford put it.
They responded with one of their best all-around efforts of the season. They shot 58.8 percent from the floor, including 19-for-39 from 3-point range as their outside shooting struggles finally came to a halt. Their 139 points was one shy of a season-high, done against a Bucks defense that’s one of the best in the league. The C’s made Antetokounmpo mostly ineffective.
Though the Bucks were missing All-Star Khris Middleton, the C’s offered a strong reminder of what they’re capable of at full strength.
“We never forgot,” Tatum said. “But it did feel good to kind of get back to playing the way we know how to play. We have the emotional understanding of, it’s a long season, and there’s going to be great stretches and there’s going to be some bad ones.
“It’s just kind of not letting the bad ones snowball effect, and get back on track sooner rather than later. And it helps when we make shots, too.”
The Celtics came out strong, making eight 3s in the first quarter. Sam Hauser banked in a 31-footer at the buzzer. The C’s were in control almost entirely from start to finish, even if they let some momentum slip in the second. Jaylen Brown was fouled on a 3-pointer and missed all three free throws to end the first half as the Celtics held on to a one-point lead.
It didn’t affect them. Tatum took over in the third as the Celtics seized control. He used an array of moves and shots, and scored at will. He finished the quarter with 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting and played the entire period as the Celtics went up by 14 entering the fourth.
Even as the cold-shooting Bucks – who finished 11-for-33 from long range – finally started hitting some shots, Tatum and his teammates had every answer.
“it felt good,” Tatum said. “Any time you’re making shots, but just the way we were playing as a whole, not only myself, but (Marcus) Smart was making plays. Grant (Williams), Rob (Williams) both come in there and give us extra possessions, offensive rebounds, (Malcolm) Brogdon, D-White, everybody that came in at the second unit in the third quarter, it just gave us life. From the crowd, we just kind of fed off that.”
They kept it going in the fourth. The Bucks scored five points to start the period and looked poised to make a run, but the Celtics responded again. Grant Williams hit a 3, Rob Williams flushed an alley-oop, and the Celtics pulled away.
“We played the right way,” Grant Williams said. “We did everything correctly, we made sure we take full advantage, we played physically, we got open looks and we took advantage of those. Then we got out in transition and played with pace and then we did a phenomenal job of setting up one another for success. …
“It’s one of those wins that allows you to get back on track,” he added. “I feel like it’s one of those wins that allows you to understand that was just a little stretch even more, because you weren’t panicked or anything. You were comfortable with moving forward. But having a win like this where you play well, and you can look each other in the eye and feel like you competed to the highest degree against a team as talented as you are, you feel good about it.”
Though a Christmas Day win may not seem like much in the bigger picture, the Celtics believed it was important the way they showed up, especially after how things have gone recently. On a big stage in a marquee matchup, they revealed that this is really the team that they are – and that bodes well for a season with championship aspirations.
“I think that’s just a sign that we do have a really good team, in all honesty,” Tatum said. “We’re not perfect, nobody is, and like I said earlier, we’re going to have some bad moments, some tough games, and that’s fine. There’s nothing that you can change about those games, it’s all about how do you respond. It’s something we talk about all the time, how do you respond from half to half or game to game. I think that is a key sign of a really good team, just how do you bounce back, how do you respond moving forward.”
