There seems to be no stopping Jayson Tatum.
The Celtics forward exploded for 33 points in Boston’s 114-103 win against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night.
Not only was the win the Celtics’ second consecutive victory, Tatum also joined some exclusive company. The 33 points marked the third straight game of at least 30 and the sixth time he’s done so this month.
Tatum has 11 30-point games this season, tying him with Antoine Walker for the franchise record for most 30-point games in a season by a 21-year-old.
Smart ➡️Tatum with the slam pic.twitter.com/Lb49f1y33E
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 27, 2020
His three straight games of 30-plus points also marked a career-best for the forward.
Tatum continues to prove exactly why he was named a first-time All-Star this season and he’s making his case that he’s a legitimate NBA star.
Head coach Brad Stevens had high praise for both Tatum and Jazz star Donovan Mitchell, who scored a game-high 37 points against the Celtics.
“Those two guys are really good, aren’t they?,” he said, per The Athletic’s Jay King. “Sometimes I think we overscrutinize the better guys in this league. When you watch them do what those two were doing, not very many people can do that.”
Here are some other notes from Wednesday’s Celtics-Jazz game:
— Boston closed out its road trip going 3-1, and did so without Kemba Walker as he recovers from a sore knee.
The C’s also have won 14 of 17.
— The Celtics had five players with double-digit points in Tatum (33), Jaylen Brown (20), Marcus Smart (17), Daniel Theis (16) and Gordon Hayward (12).
— Smart had a strong game, especially in the fourth quarter when he knocked down three 3-pointers in less than two minutes to put Boston up 100-87 with 7:22 left in the game.
3️⃣6️⃣ from ? pic.twitter.com/D8I2qJ2Usn
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 27, 2020
Smart went 0-for-5 from deep before going off in the closing quarters.
“I told the bench ‘let me get one,'” he told Abby Chin on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “They laughed, said get another one.”
— The C’s were on the second leg of a back-to-back and were able to come away with the win to close out the road trip, something Smart said took “everything.”
“It took everything,” he told Chin. “We had a great performance from JT. (He’s) been playing phenomenal. Jaylen Brown’s been playing phenomenal. Gordon Hayward, wasn’t his best night but he stayed with it. Brad Wanamaker, Daniel Theis. It took a whole team effort. Everybody was in the game. …”
— Brown’s scored 20-plus points in four straight games, per Celtics Stats.
— Boston is back in action Saturday when it hosts the Houston Rockets. Tip-off from TD Garden is set for 8:30 p.m. ET.
