BOSTON — With a wide-open jumper lined up at the end of regulation, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum had the perfect chance to break his team’s tie with the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night. But, instead of swishing the uncontested game-winner, the five-time All-Star completely missed the rim and the Green Team headed to overtime. This disappointment would’ve shaken a lot of players, yet Tatum remained unmoved.
When the reigning NBA champion had a second chance to secure the win, he delivered. At the end of OT, Tatum cashed a 30-foot, buzzer-beating triple to give his Celtics an exhilarating 126-123 win at TD Garden. He accounted for six of Boston’s 12 points in overtime and finished the contest one assist shy of a triple-double with 24 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists.
How Jayson Tatum and the Celtics stayed confident vs. the Raptors
Although Tatum was off the mark on an easier game-winning attempt and shot under 37% from the floor, he was fearless when he had the ball on Boston’s final possession.
“I got a lot of problems in life, confidence has never been one of them,” he told reporters. “I worked too hard at my craft. I played too much basketball to ever doubt the next shot, whether it’s an in-and-out miss or whether I miss the entire rim. I know what I’m capable of and you always believe that the next one is going in.”
The Celtics are now 11-3 on the season and Tatum is a big reason why. Through 14 games, the St. Louis native is averaging 29.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, and a career-high 5.9 assists. He has also drained the second-most triples in the league so far, only trailing Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards.
“Every kid growing up in their driveway or at a gym or a park, you know, counted down out loud and envisioned themselves in moments like this,” Tatum said of his late-game opportunity. “And for me, I’ve always wanted to be a part of those moments. And [I’m] never worried about if you miss or things like that. I’ve never been scared of the outcome, good or bad.”
Tatum’s confidence is shared by those around him as well. Celtics center Al Horford, who’s currently in his 18th season in the NBA, fully trusts his star teammate.
“That’s a shot that I constantly see him working on. That’s something that he’s confident in and we’re confident in him,” Horford revealed. “For him to knock it down tonight was big for our group … I’ve seen him work on those same types of moves and shoot that shot quite a bit in practice. So, it paid off.”
The shorthanded Raptors nearly overwhelmed the Celtics prior to Tatum’s buzzer-beater. Without 2024 All-Star Scottie Barnes, the rebuilding Raps outscored the C’s 78-42 in the paint and even held a two-point lead with just 2:25 left in overtime.
Like Tatum, the Celtics didn’t falter in the most important moments. Reigning NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown notched six of his 27 points after regulation and made crucial defensive plays down the stretch. Horford scored a season-high 18 points and knocked down a 3-pointer nearly every time Boston needed one, converting on five of his 10 attempts from beyond the arc.
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“Going into a second overtime, that wouldn’t have been it,” Horford joked.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla knows his guys have to execute better against teams like the last-place Raptors. That didn’t make him any less proud of Tatum and his ability to stay focused in a grind-it-out game.
“I really just remind him of the work he puts in every day. More times than not, more people miss game-winners than they make them,” Mazzulla answered when asked how he instills confidence in Tatum. “So, he has the work ethic and mental toughness to work through all those things and you just kind of rely on the work ethic that you put in. And he does that.”
At 26 years old, Tatum still finds confidence from when he was growing up and witnessing how his NBA role models handled the thrill of succeeding or the failure of falling short in clutch moments.
“My favorite players I grew up watching had moments like this, where they made them and they missed them, but they were always willing to [shoot] regardless of how the game was going to be in that moment,” he stated.
Tatum and company will need to have that unflinching attitude for their next matchup, as the Celtics host the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers in an NBA Cup showdown on Tuesday night.
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