Call them the new (newest?) Big 3.
Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart all came up big in the Celtics’ 116-100 win over the Warriors in Wednesday’s NBA Finals Game 3 at TD Garden.
Dubs get drubbed in Game 3 at Boston
All three filled up the box score and made an impact in all aspects of the game. Brown scored a team-high 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting to go along with nine rebounds, five assists and one big block. Tatum was right behind him with 26 points on 9-of-23 shooting, six rebounds, nine assists and a steal. For Smart: 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting, seven rebounds and five assists.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, they were the first trio to each have at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in an NBA Finals game since Game 6 of the 1984 Finals, when the Lakers trio of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Michael Cooper did it. The Lakers beat the Celtics in that game, but the Celtics went on to win Game 7.
In fact, Tatum, Brown and Smart were just the fourth trio to ever accomplish that feat in a Finals game. The other two trios to do it before Kareem, Magic and Cooper came during the Celtics’ 1960s dynasty. Bill Russell, John Havlicek and Sam Jones did it in 1966, and then Russell, Havlicek and Larry Siegfried did it in 1968. The Celtics beat the Lakers in both of those Finals.
Sticking to just Tatum and Brown, according to NBA Stats, they were the fourth pair of Celtics teammates to each record at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists in a Finals game, and they were the first pair of Celtics teammates to each record 25-plus points in a Finals game at age 25 or younger.
Brown was the driving force behind the Celtics’ fast start Wednesday night, as he scored 17 points in the first quarter. When Boston needed to put the game away in the fourth, it was Tatum and Smart scoring eight points apiece and a team defensive effort that held Golden State to just 11 points.
Obviously, it’s rare for three players to all get going the way Tatum, Brown and Smart did, but it was a great sign for the Celtics to not have to rely on any one player, and the latest example from this postseason of what they’re capable of when they get a true team effort. These numbers don’t even include Robert Williams’ excellent performance.
The Celtics have also gotten big games from Al Horford, Derrick White and Grant Williams this postseason, and some key minutes from Payton Pritchard as well. Two more great team performances like this and they’ll be NBA champs.
Related
