It’s been quite the stretch for Jayson Tatum since making his first All-Star team.
In his last five games, the Boston Celtics wing is averaging 35.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Wednesday night’s win over the Utah Jazz was the sixth time this month, including each of his last three games, Tatum had scored 30 or more points.
Tatum has 11 30-point contests this season, tying him with Antoine Walker’s franchise record for the most by a 21-year-old. It prompted Walker to weigh in on Tatum’s potential Thursday.
“What he’s doing right now on the offensive end, he’s that next Celtic,” Walker said on FS1’s “First Things First.”
“He’s that next (Larry) Bird, he’s that next Paul Pierce for the Boston Celtics. He has arrived.”
Walker added that he see’s Tatum as one of the top four wings in the Eastern Conference, behind the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo and in the mix with the Philadelphia 76ers’ Ben Simmons and the Toronto Raptors’ Pascal Siakam.
Walker, however, said Tatum’s sample size is too small.
“He’s still got some work to do to prove,” Walker said. “I mean, we’re going off a sample size the last, I would say six weeks, where he taken his game to the next level. I said this last year that he was going to have to get better, get back to playing the way he played his rookie year, and he did that. He put the work in, you see it. His offensive game has evolved know. He can score from anywhere on the floor. Obviously, his most impressive part has been his 3-point shooting.”
Tatum has been lethal from beyond the arc, shooting 50 percent from long range in February. He’ll get another opportunity to showcase his skill Saturday when Boston hosts the Houston Rockets at 8:30 p.m. ET.
