Moments after the Boston Celtics finished off a 133-128 overtime victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers Tuesday night, ESPN’s Lisa Salters asked Jaylen Brown what made the difference in overtime.
“I think we just made some momentum plays. JT finally woke up, made some baskets,” Brown said.
It sounded partly like a callout of his fellow star, but it was also an acknowledgment of the reality that Jayson Tatum was, in fact, the difference in overtime.
Brown had dragged the Celtics to overtime, forcing a critical Pacers turnover with under 10 seconds to go and then drilling the game-tying three on the ensuing Boston possession.
In the process, he had given Tatum new life. Tatum had missed two shots in the final minute – an open three and a close-range put-back. If it weren’t for Brown’s heroics, all the criticisms of Tatum’s play in clutch time would have come roaring back to life.
But with a second opportunity and a big sigh of relief, Tatum took over in overtime. He scored 10 of the Celtics’ 16 points in the extra five minutes, becoming the first player in three years to score 10 points in overtime in a playoff game.
With 2:27 left in overtime and the Celtics trailing by one, Tatum took off on a breakaway dunk opportunity and got fouled by Aaron Nesmith (with the former Celtic fouling out in the process). He proceeded to make both free throws to give Boston the lead.
A minute later, Tatum gave the Celtics the lead again, taking a pass from Derrick White, driving hard to the basket, and finishing strong around T.J. McConnell, who fouled him on the play. Tatum completed the three-point play to put Boston up 124-123.
Then he hit the dagger. With 43 seconds to go, Tatum sidestepped an Andrew Nembhard closeout and drilled a three to push the Celtics’ lead to four. It was nearly an identical look to the one he missed in the final minute of regulation. Ballgame.
“It really just felt like we had a second chance,” Tatum said of overtime. “…We just talked about in the huddle, like we got a second chance. Let’s take advantage of it. Let’s not mess around. Just figure out a way to win this game.”
It’s not like Tatum had done nothing in regulation. In fact, he had been quite good for most of it. He finished with a game-high 36 points on 12-of-26 shooting and was a game-best plus-20. He also had 12 rebounds, four assists and three steals. His absence was noticeable during a brief respite late in the third quarter, when the Pacers went on a 12-2 run during a 2:38 stretch with Tatum on the bench.
And even though Tatum missed two shots in the final minute of regulation, he still helped get the game to overtime with some terrific defense on Tyrese Haliburton – who had already hit two buzzer-beaters in the second and third quarters – in the closing seconds.
Still, had the Celtics lost, the story would have been Tatum’s late misses and his 2-of-7 shooting in the fourth quarter. The Celtics won, though, thanks in large part to Tatum rewriting his story in overtime.