Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum went to the locker room at halftime Wednesday night not too pleased even though Boston held a double-digit lead at the break over the Detroit Pistons.
Unlike the previous 10 games this season, Tatum hadn’t done much at all to contribute to the 63-49 advantage, scoring a measly five points — he missed seven of the nine shots he took — with only two assists and one rebound.
“I mean we were winning, but I had five points and I was playing a little sluggish,” Tatum told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin following Boston’s 128-112 win at TD Garden, as seen on the network’s postgame coverage. “So, I just wanted to come out with a little bit more sense of urgency rather shots fell or not. I just wanted to play better and I tried to.”
Tatum sure did, exploding from the outset of the second half to bury the Pistons as he finished with a game-high 31 points, including knocking down five treys, to go along with five assists.
The sense of urgency and determination Tatum felt leaving the locker room propelled him to catch fire to start the third quarter. Tatum scored 16 points over the first 5:04 of the frame to almost instantly go over 20 points for the game.
Tatum sunk three 3-pointers during the sensational stretch and scored 10 more points in the fourth quarter for good measure — he went to the free-throw line seven times in the stanza — to put away a young Pistons squad.
The offensive eruption from Tatum only further cemented that he’s only a couple of made shots away from putting any slow spurts behind him. And that has to be a frightening proposition for opposing teams.
