5 takeaways as Jayson Tatum’s late heroes elevate Celtics over wizards

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The Boston Celtics fought to defeat a Washington Wizards team and claim their second straight victory on Sunday – a 111-110 thriller.

The big picture

In a familiar scene, the Celtics once again lost a double-digit lead in the second half and ceded control to the Wizards. But rather than cut the stretch, Boston continued to fight. Jayson Tatum’s starting basket with four seconds left gave the Celtics a one-point lead, and Boston chased Bradley Beal into the corner and trapped him on Washington’s final shot to claim the victory. .

Game star

Jayson Tatum – 31 points, shot 12 for 22.

Tatum looked healthier and more energetic, and his baskets on the straight were as tight as they come – he hit four shots in the 1:33 final, including a half-turn jumper and three baskets. in the painting which included the eventual winner of the match. .

Boston overcame Jaylen Brown’s lack in large part thanks to Tatum and Walker, whose eight assists were important, but Tatum’s heroism was especially crucial.

What this means

The Wizards aren’t the best team in the NBA, but entering Sunday’s contest they’ve been one of the hottest – winning seven of their last eight. Beating such a hot team is a feat, and the Celtics overcame two of their biggest issues – a cold stretch in the second half and an opposing superstar that kicked in.

Now the Celtics are back at .500 and have some momentum. If they can share two tough games against the Los Angeles Clippers and an improved Toronto Raptors team, they can stay there with some life before the All-Star break.

To take away

1. Here’s a look at Tatum’s Approval Basket.

The game itself was pretty broken, but Tatum made the most of it – beating Beal with a quick step off the post and scoring around a tough defender.

Tatum in the job is deadly when he comes out of it – according to NBA stats, he averages 1.56 points per possession out of 0.6 post-up games per game. The game’s winner might not be completely classified as a post-up, but Tatum started with his back to the basket and made a clever move to leave Beal in his footsteps.

“It’s just a feeling for the game,” Tatum said when asked about his last layup after the game. “It’s just something you feel, use your gut, be responsive. I’m 22 and have been playing basketball since I was three, so a lot of practice in that regard. There are a lot of games that I have played. “

2. Opposing stars and cold streaks continue to hurt the Celtics. Boston’s offense turned freezing for a period spanning the end of the third / start of the fourth quarter, and the Wizards took control of the game. Boston fought back thanks in large part to a strip of brilliance from Daniel Theis, but once again the hill the Celtics were forced to climb was steep.

Digging that hole was encouraging, but the Celtics needed a bit of luck and a lot of clutch, which they can’t really count on.

“It’s something we can build on,” Tatum said. “Obviously we made some big plays, got some key saves, and we stayed true and it turned our favor. Hopefully we can continue to build on this. “

3. With Jaylen Brown out, the Celtics were forced to rely on Kemba Walker grounding lineups without Brown, Tatum or Marcus Smart – lineups that were a disaster last season.

This season, however, they’ve been a bit better despite Walker’s struggles early on. Heading into Sunday’s game, the Celtics outscored teams by 3.1 points per 100 possessions with Walker grounding alone over the Boston All-Star in 127 possessions. Those numbers are likely to increase a bit – Walker finished +4, while posting 21 points.

“Kemba is a good point guard and then with all the other guys they get so much attention,” Theis said. “If we keep moving the ball it’s so hard for the teams to keep us. Today was my third trimester moment. I had the plans wide open. I think four times in a row they didn’t keep me at all so but also just as a team we move the ball it’s so hard to keep when we have Kemba, JT, JB, whoever it is out there we have so many guys that can play for each other. This is what we need. We just have to play our way of playing basketball. “

4. Tatum has a lot of poster slaps for someone who isn’t particularly bouncy. His latest was a beauty: a second-quarter one-handed smash against Robin Lopez, followed by a friendly slap in the backend for longtime friend Bradley Beal.

Part of the explanation for Tatum’s posters is his use – he has the ball in his hands a lot, which means he drives a lot to the basket. But he is also very gentle and very confident, which also stimulates him.

Tatum was asked if he would reconsider an appearance in the dunk contest. He laughs.

“No, I mean if you watched the last game, I tried to dunk and got pissed off by the rim,” Tatum said. “So I had to make up for it.”

5. Here is your nighttime highlight from Rob Williams.

Rob can certainly jump.

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