Jayson Tatum put the dagger in the Pacers on Tuesday night when he drilled a 3-pointer with 43 seconds left in overtime at TD Garden.
But just over a minute before the clutch bucket, the Celtics franchise cornerstone put his team in real danger.
Tatum committed an ugly turnover with Boston hanging onto a one-point lead in OT with under two minutes to play. The five-time All-Star was expecting Jrue Holiday to roll out after setting a pick near half-court, but Tatum ended up floating the basketball right to Tyrese Haliburton. The Indiana star raced up court, was fouled on a 3-point attempt and knocked down a trio from the free-throw line to give the visitors a two-point edge.
Fortunately for Tatum, Boston was more buttoned up from there and logged a 133-128 win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. After the series opener, the 26-year-old opened up about his mistake that could’ve doomed the C’s.
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“I’m so glad we won the game because I would have been sick,” Tatum told reporters, per MassLive. “That play was some miscommunication. We just talked about afterward and thought that I was going to come off the screen. I thought that they would corral him and double him. I thought he was going to slip. He was still (able to) jump and pass the ball, so that was on me.”
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Tatum had some rough moments Monday night, but he still was one of the best players on the floor. The seventh-year pro dropped a game-high 36 points to go along with 12 rebounds and a plus-20 rating, the highest mark of any player by a considerable margin.
Nonetheless, Tatum will try to play a cleaner game Thursday night when the Celtics and the Pacers meet for Game 2. Tipoff from TD Garden is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
Featured image via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
