As the Boston Celtics added to their league-best record (30-12) and extended their winning streak to four consecutive on Wednesday night, much praise was directed toward Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
And rightfully so. The two combined to score 72 of the team's 125 points in their victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. Not to mention, like the Celtics collectively who shot 48.4% from the field, the dominant duo also did so efficiently. Tatum and Brown shot 58.1% from the field on a combined 43 attempts, which included six 3-pointers within their respective double-double performances.
With skeptics having previously questioned their abilities to shine alongside each other while also leading the Celtics, needless to say, Tatum and Brown put that stigma to rest during the win. And teammate Grant Williams would certainly agree.
"They're really learning," Williams said pregame, per team-provided video. "... They do a great job of making sure they're efficient in every action and everything they do. They both shoot the ball and are able to score it. They're just looking both right on to be great players this year and thankful to just be a part of this team because we're having some success because not only their efforts but the teams."
Brown was the lone man of the night, no question. He scored a season-high 41 points and collected 12 rebounds in the process. However, that didn't stop Tatum from getting his shine as well. Not overshadowed at all by Brown, Tatum scored 31 points with 10 rebounds en route to his 15th double-double of the season.
Williams credited the work done by Tatum and Brown in order to display efforts as such.
"As talented as they are, they're both working continuously hard to not only get better at the game themselves and the talent that they display but also how they see it," Williams said. "And it comes to them. The game gets slower for them day by day and they're doing a phenomenal job of continuing to keep a grit and grind mentality to realize that not only are they having success but if you wanna be the best that you can be, you have to continue to improve."
