At the end of regulation on Saturday night, Jayson Tatum blocked a potential game-winner so much that he didn’t even hit the rim. When he had another chance to give the Boston Celtics a hard-fought victory over the Toronto Raptors in the final seconds of overtime, he made sure they didn’t waste it.
As time ran out in the extra frame, the Celtics held the ball for the final shot and set up a play that sent Jaylen Brown running off staggered screens. That plan collapsed when Brown was thrown to the ground by Raptors guard Davion Mitchell and Tatum had to go one-on-one. He sized up Ochai Agbaji, took a few dribbles to create space and let him fly from 30 feet.
Cash. The Celtics win, 126-123.
“Every child, growing up in their driveway, in a gym, or in a park, counted out loud and imagined themselves in moments like this,” Tatum said. “I always wanted to be a part of those moments.”
It was the polar opposite of his attempt at the end of regulation, which went wide left by about two feet.
“Man, I missed so many shots in the second half that I was bound to make one,” said Tatum, who missed all five of his attempts in the second half. Later, he spoke of his mental toughness: “I have a lot of problems in life, confidence has never been one of them. I work too hard at my craft. I’ve played too much basketball to ever doubt.”
The Raptors entered a six-game losing streak and were missing several key players, but they didn’t look like the big underdogs they started the game with. RJ Barrett recorded the first triple-double of his career (25 points, 10 rebounds, 15 assists), Jakob Poeltl scored a career-high 35 points, and they held the Celtics all night in a game that featured 12 ties and 27 lead changes.
However, in the end the Celtics showed why they are the defending champions. On a night where they were without Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis (and didn’t shoot the ball well), they still found a way to win.
Tatum finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, coming within one statistic of a triple-double for the second straight game.
“That was a great opportunity,” Brown said. “We needed it a lot. The last thing we wanted to do is go to double overtime against the Toronto Raptors.”
