Have yourself a night, Jayson Tatum.
The Celtics forward dropped a career-high 39 points, 22 coming in the fourth quarter alone, in Boston’s 119-93 blowout win against the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night at TD Garden. Tatum, who outscored the entire Hornets team in the final frame, also grabbed 12 rebounds for his first 30-10 game of his career.
But it wasn’t just his offense that raised eyebrows. Tatum played a crucial role on defense and helped limit Hornets guard Devonte’ Graham to six points in quarters two, three and four after his 17 first-quarter points.
“I can’t believe that’s not talked about more,” head coach Brad Stevens said on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage, “how good he is defensively.”
Tatum accounted for three blocks and a steal in the win.
Stevens also “loved the fact we were riding Tatum at the end. We were all finding him, we were all trying to figure out how to get him another basket. That’s a good sign.”
But aside from the team finding him, Stevens also thought Tatum “did a good job at picking his spots” to shoot.
“He had a couple of great opportunities in the mid-range that were really good shots that actually didn’t go down for him,” he said, via NBC Sports Boston. “But I thought he chose when to shoot it right and attacked at other times. And obviously he’s got the little sidestep and different moves to get the three off.”
Kemba Walker, who dropped 23 points against his former Charlotte team, had a simple message about his teammate.
Kemba Walker on Jayson Tatum: “Nobody has seen nothing yet. He’s coming. He’s coming strong.”
Said Tatum will be one of the NBA’s best players one day.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) December 23, 2019
We guess that could be considered a warning to all future opponents.
Here are some other notes from Sunday’s Celtics-Hornets game:
— Grant Williams scored a career-high 12 points in the win and earned some high praise from his coach.
“He was good today. This is a harder team to guard with as much switching we’re doing,” Stevens said, per NBC Sports Boston’s A. Sherrod Blakely. “I thought he did a good job in a lot of possessions.”
Williams also has hit at least one 3-pointer in three straight games.
— Romeo Langford also had a solid game for Boston with eight points and four rebounds, including the first 3-point shot of his career.
“A week ago he didn’t know if he was going to play this year and now he’s played in three straight. And when guys come back he may not play as much. But we know that he’ll be ready and he really competes and I think he’s going to get better.”
Langford has dealt with a slew of injuries so far this season, but he appeared to be 100 percent Sunday night.
— The Celtics now have defeated the Hornets in 11 of their last 13 games.
