Many had the Celtics' playoff hopes dead and buried, down 2-0 to the Nets following Boston's ugly 130-108 Game 2 loss in Brooklyn.
That feeling only grew when the Nets took a 19-4 lead early in the first quarter in Friday night's Game 3 action at TD Garden.
But, during a Brad Stevens timeout to try to salvage the game, Jayson Tatum seemingly put on his Superman costume in order to change the Celtics postseason narrative.
Taking the court in Boston for the first time since his 50-point effort to dismiss the Wizards in the play-in tournament, Tatum hit three straight shots out of the timeout to give Boston momentum.
By the end of the first quarter the Celtics had turned the 15-point deficit into a one-point lead – 33-32 – on a Marcus Smart three-pointer.
Not only was Boston back in business, the Celtics went on to the 125-119 victory to cut the Brooklyn lead in the series to 2-1, each team taking care of its home court.
Oh, and for the second straight time on the Garden parquet, Tatum notched 50 points, becoming the third-youngest player in NBA history to top the half-century mark in the postseason, putting himself in the company of some guy named Michael Jordan.
Tatum's production thankfully overshadowed the return of Kyrie Irving to Boston, the lightning rod guard playing in front of booing Celtics fans for the first time since fleeing the franchise in free agency two years ago.
This night, though, was about the rising star Tatum and not Brooklyn's trio of future Hall of Famers. It was even more remarkable given that Tatum had struggled on 6-of-22 shooting in Game 1 in Brooklyn and then scored just nine points in Game 2 before leaving after 21 minutes to injury.
"I"ve played a lot of games in this arena, it's my favorite place to play," Tatum said afterwards of his home-cooking, 50-point effort. "I'd like to say I feel most comfortable here."
He certainly looked it going 16-of-30 from the field, including five-of-11 from behind the three-point arc, as well as 13-of-15 from the free-throw line.
But while Tatum was clearly leading the way, necessarily the star power of the Celtics season-saving performance, he was far from the only Boston player to meet the challenge of being down 2-0.
Marcus Smart had 23 points on an efficient eight-of-11 shooting. Tristan Thompson had arguably his best game of the season with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Evan Fournier had 17 points as the fourth Boston starter to reach double-digits, allowing Boston to get by with just 10 points off the bench.
Their All-Star, budding superstar led the way and the rest of the Celtics followed.
"We had a lot of guys step up tonight around Jayson being special," Stevens said of his team's effort and winning execution.
While the Nets had the 19-4 run to open the game, Boston had a much more critical 21-4 run in the third quarter after the game had been tied at 75. Not surprisingly, Tatum led the way with 11 points in the run to close out three quarters with 40 points.
Boston needed every bit of the performance, too. James Harden led Brooklyn with 41 points, followed closely by fellow superstar Kevin Durant with 39. Irving finished with just 16 points, tying Tatum with a game-high 41 minutes played.
The Nets may have three future Hall of Fame stars in Irving, Durant and Harden, a formidable trio expected to compete for the NBA title this season. And maybe they will. Maybe they'll bounce back and dispatch an undermanned, underdog Celtics squad.
But not without a fight.
Friday night, Tatum was the best player on the court and willed his resilient Boston squad to the win with an historic performance. The Celtics will likely go only a far this postseason as Tatum can carry them.
Can Tatum make it three straight games on his home court with 50 points? Game 4 is set for Sunday night at 7 p.m. in Boston, set to have a full crowd of more than 17,000 fans for the first time in more than a year.
"I can't f---ing wait till Sunday," Thompson proclaimed as only he can.
Thanks to Tatum, the Celtics suddenly have life.
