Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are now just one win away from their first NBA title after leading Boston to a 3-0 series lead with a 106-99 victory in Dallas Wednesday night.
With Kristaps Porzingis out, Tatum and Brown took over like the Celtics needed them to, combining for 61 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists. As WEEI’s Justin Turpin noted, they became just the second pair of Boston teammates to each top 30 points in an NBA Finals game, joining John Havlicek and Bailey Howell from way back in 1968.
On the other side, Mavericks star Luka Doncic fouled out with 4:12 left in the game, with Brown’s aggressiveness in driving at Doncic leading to his final two fouls just 26 seconds apart.
On Thursday’s Gresh & Fauria show, Andy Gresh pointed to that difference in how each team’s stars played as evidence that Tatum and Brown are officially “all grown up” now. Listen to the full segment above.
“Today, I feel like a proud dad with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. That's the feeling I have as a fan this morning. You know why? Because they're all grown up,” Gresh said. “When you see Luka Doncic melting down like a baby and insulting officials, gee, why don't you get any calls? Because you call all of them every name in the book in English and … however many other languages Luka Doncic knows.
“But Christian, I don't know if you've had these moments of epiphany or anything like that, where it's almost like your kid kind of crosses over and you're like, oh my god, that was mature. He's turning off his lights in his bedroom and he helped put dishes in the dishwasher without needing to be asked and stuff like that. That's what last night felt like. Because the narrative around Tatum and Brown had been they're young, they're this, they're not clutch, they act like babies, Tatum bitches at the refs.
“No. Last night in the fourth quarter, there's no more Gerber Baby grow-up pants for the Jays anymore. Because the guy that needed the double diaper last night was on the other side, that people say is a First Team All-League player. People said even going into this series that Luka was a better player than Jayson Tatum. He's not complete. He's a baby. And I think we can officially say, as we plan a parade, they're all grown up now.”
Gresh believes Wednesday night is the game we’ll look back on as the moment Tatum and Brown crossed over into being truly championship-ready.
“Last night was such unbelievable proof that those guys have grown up, that they have taken the step forward,” he said. “Because you know what they didn't do? They didn't try to stop Luka from self-destructing by engaging in their own silly behavior. This is, honestly, and I really truly believe this: We are going to look back over the next couple of years at last night's Game 3 and recognize that that is the moment where we can look at Tatum and Brown differently. No more of the young antics, no more of the not clutch or anything like that. … I really do believe last night was the night on the calendar that Celtic fans realized our guys are there.”