Most analysts and fans viewed the Wizards and Celtics play-in game as a tilt that could go either way. A 50-50 affair. Well, someone on the Celtics seemed to take that quite literally.
Jayson Tatum scored a team- and game-high 50 points to lead the Celtics to a 118-100 victory over Washington at the TD Garden Tuesday night. Tatum told the TNT broadcast crew after the game, "We wanted to come out and win, come out and compete." Something that's easier to do when your best player is 17-for-17 from the line.
"Be the best on the floor," Tatum said. "That's what I told myself coming into this game" And he was, especially when he dropped 23 in the third quarter, alone.
Coming into the game the two teams couldn't have been headed in more opposite directions. Washington had won 10 of their last 15, with 17 wins since April 7, the most in the NBA. The Celtics, meanwhile, were near frozen solid, losers of five of their last six. But the way the two teams played Tuesday you would have thought they swapped uniforms pregame.
The game got off to a sluggish if not wonky start. Tipoff was just after 9 p.m., something fans weren't too thrilled with. Nor were they too pleased with the broadcast, which seemed to be in hushed tones. (Of note: Play-by-play legend Marv Albert has announced he's retiring following the Eastern Conference Finals.)
The Celtics led 27-21 after the first quarter, but some cold shooting, Wizards hustle and injuries (Smart left for a spell with an ankle injury, while Rob Williams re-aggravated his turf toe and was ruled out at the half) altered the momentum.
Washington held the lead, 54-52, at the half, but Bradley Beal (nursing a hamstring injury himself) and Russell Westbrook (20 pts, 4-16 from the floor) never seemed to find their rhythm. Or at least the prowess they had against the Celtics, when Beal. averaged 41 points per game vs. the C's this season.
Thus the stage was set for the Celtics to seize control of the game, and their fate. And did they ever when the third quarter began.
Led by Tatum and Kemba Walker (29 points, 6-for-14 from behind the arc), the Celtics opened the third on a 17-2 run, gaining a 13 point lead, and basically never looking back. Washington, ice-cold from three on the night ("I guess we just missed them tonight. (expletive) happens." said Westbrook postgame), closed the gap to as close as six points once. But Tatum and Walker stayed hot, and the Green were not to be denied.
While it may be unreasonable to expect your two best players to score almost 80 points, or two-thirds of your scoring every night in the postseason, the Celtics will likely need such Herculean efforts if they are to extend their playoffs versus their Round 1 opponent: Old friend Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets.
C's coach Brad Stevens was proud of his team's effort, fighting through injuries and adversity to reach a familiar destination; the postseason. "It takes a lot of effort, it takes a lot of togetherness, and it takes staying together through tough times," he said. Something this team will likely face against a team as relentless and talented as the Nets.
The Wizards, meanwhile, will play the Indiana Pacers Thursday night for the right to claim the 8th-seed in the Eastern Conference.
But before the hype, hooplah and hysteria that will likely be generated by an emotional reunion with old friend Kyrie & Co., let's not look past how impressive Tatum's effort was vs. the Wizards, where he notched his third fifty-plus point game for the Celtics, trailing only Larry Bird who has four.
Count Wizards coach Scott Brooks as someone who's impressed. "He's gonna be an MVP in this league soon," Brooks noted
If Tatum wants to be the best in the game then starting this weekend at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn he'll have to beat one the best in the game. Is it Saturday at 8 p.m. yet?
