Celtics’ Jayson Tatum Joins Larry Bird Reaching (Very) Rare Feat Vs. Wizards
'It's gonna be tougher this year'
During All-Star weekend in Indianapolis last season, Jayson Tatum met Celtics icon Larry Bird for the first time. Now as a reigning champion in Boston, the 26-year-old joined the Hall of Famer in exclusive company after Wednesday night’s win.
Boston defeated the Wizards, 122-102 in Washington, putting the Celtics at a perfect 2-0 start with two straight 20-plus-point victories. Tatum, leading the charge with another double-double to follow Banner Night’s masterpiece, scored 25 points with 11 rebounds and six assists to earn another fourth quarter of rest. That made Tatum the second player ever in league history to log at least 62 points, 15 rebounds and 16 assists in the first two games to start a season, per NBC Sports Boston’s Dick Lipe. The other? Bird.
“Just to piggyback off (Joe Mazzulla’s message), continue to dominate on the floor and all the areas that stats show and all the areas that stats don’t show,” Tatum told reporters, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “And that’s screening, cutting, creating advantages for my teammates and obviously getting involved in making plays and rebounding and things like that.”
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Tatum continued the efficiency, shooting 9-of-20 from the field and shaking off a 3-for-11 output from 3-point range. He gave Wizards 7-foot rookie Alex Sarr, the second overall pick in the 2024 draft, nightmares on their 1-on-1 matchups, most notably with the rude welcome-to-the-NBA awakening of Tatum’s shake-and-bake step-back three in the second quarter. Sarr was fazed by Tatum’s mission-expanding night and logged a forgettable NBA debut of his own, finishing a minus-22 with two points on seven shots.
Clearly, the new and upset Tatum, even with a 15-carat championship ring on his finger, isn’t content with last season and last season only. The summer of disrespect, in which Tatum also inked a record-large $315 million, has stuck closely with Tatum like white on rice. Washington, in the process, became Tatum’s next victim caught in the fire.
Becoming a byproduct — with a historically impressive output — of Steve Kerr’s incompetency as USA Basketball’s head coach and Tatum’s personal shooting woes from last postseason, so far, has been dangerous. It’s kept the Celtics locked in, not just from Opening Night, but from training camp and the preseason.
It’s only been two games, but a blemish has yet to appear.
“I think having the same mindset of we approach everything the same, we just try to get a little bit better,” Tatum explained, per NBC Sports Boston. “We’ve respected every opponent, we respected every practice day and I think it paid off in the end. It’s gonna be tougher this year, obviously. Human nature might play a part of — obviously cause what we did last year and having to fight that but I think we’re on the right track.”
