Iron Sharpens Iron Between Celtics’ Jayson Tatum, Suns’ Kevin Durant

BOSTON — Jayson Tatum and Kevin Durant are among the best scorers in the NBA, pacing the Boston Celtics and the Phoenix Suns in their respective playoff races.

Durant has been a standard of excellence throughout his 16 NBA seasons, dominating the game and earning two MVP honors in the NBA Finals. He’s been a star for Tatum to challenge and their meetings rarely fail to impress the audience.

Entering their most recent matchup on Thursday, Tatum has gone 5-4 against Durant in both the regular season as well as the playoffs. Tatum scored 50 points in the Celtics’ lone win when Durant’s Brooklyn Nets eliminated Boston in five games during the 2021 postseason. The Boston star stepped up again with a game-winning layup at the buzzer in Game 1 to spark a sweep of the Nets in the first round of the postseason when the Celtics marched to a NBA Finals appearance the following season.

During their years of competition, it’s impossible to say that Durant and Tatum have not impacted each other. Tatum has described the now-Phoenix Suns star as an older brother while Durant recently predicted that the Boston forward could keep dominating the league for the next decade.

Thursday night offered more competition on the court with the two stars consistently challenging each other. Both players came to play from the opening tip as Durant drained a mid-range jumper over Tatum to start the scoring. The forwards combined for 29 points in the first quarter and kept the intensity into the second.

Tatum got the best of Durant in the final minutes of the first half, burying a pair of left-corner 3-pointers over the 6-foot-11 defender. The two followed each other defensively most of the night, daring each other to elevate their play.

Neither player made a major impact in the second half as the Celtics cruised behind 37 points from Jaylen Brown in a 127-112 victory. Tatum finished with 26 points while Durant tallied 20 points. While it wasn’t a career night for either star, the impact showed once again between them.

Tatum got the best of Durant in the latest star-studded showdown, adding another chapter to an elite sharpening of skills.