Jayson Tatum serves up buckets, dishes out big-time assists in Celtics win

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With the game very much up for grabs in the final minute of play, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum had the ball in his hands which is exactly where Tatum and the Celtics wanted it on this particular night. 

Boston was trying to avoid an epic collapse (the Celtics led by as many as 24 points) while clinging to a three-point lead with possession of the ball.

Tatum was well aware that if the Celtics scored one more time, that would probably be enough to get the win, a win that would have been aided greatly by his dominant scoring.

And so Tatum attacked the Blazers and their 27th-ranked defense. He got what seemed to be a step on his defender which led to another defender - Carmelo Anthony - making a step towards Tatum and most important, away from Jaylen Brown.

Don't miss NBC Sports Boston's coverage of Celtics-Heat, which begins Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. with Celtics Pregame Live followed by tip-off at 6:30 p.m. You can also stream the game on the MyTeams App.

Sensing this, Tatum did the unexpected in that moment - he passed the ball to Brown.

With the game on the line Boston’s best scorer this season and in this particular game, decided to dish the rock rather than attempt to serve up another bucket.

And you know what?

It was the right call.

Not only because he passed it to Brown whose dagger 3-pointer from the corner would prove to be the game-winning shot.

It was the right basketball play because it put on display what Tatum and the Celtics and those who have marveled at his evolution have been saying for months - he’s a different, more complete player.

And there’s no better way to show off his much-improved, more well-rounded game than to make a play that shines a brighter spotlight on what many believe has been his greatest weakness - passing the ball. 

In addition to scoring a game-high 34 points, Tatum also tallied a career-high eight assists with the one to Brown in the corner being arguably the most impressive and certainly the most impactful of the bunch. 

“If I’m gonna be out there, I want to make plays,” Tatum said. “So it’s just … go out there and hoop.”

 And this is where Tatum’s growth really stands out. 

In Sunday’s 128-124 win, the 22-year-old showed the kind of basketball discernment that speaks volumes as to how he has grown into more than just a young but talented player on the rise but a player who has the potential to be among the biggest stars in the NBA for years to come. 

Tatum was coming off one of his worst games of the season, a five-point, 2-for-18 performance in Boston’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. 

Following the loss, Tatum said he doesn’t dwell too much on his play from one game to the next, regardless of whether he plays good or bad. 

While he may have had a game against the Bucks that he would just as soon want to forget about, there were lessons in the defeat that Tatum clearly carried over into the next game against the Blazers.

Among them being him being able to get out in transition and thus get some shots to fall early. That allowed him to get into a rhythm and just get back to doing the kind of things offensively that have made him one of the league’s elite players since the All-Star break.

Since then, only two players (Washington’s Bradley Beal and Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James) have a higher scoring average than Tatum.

But as we saw on Sunday, as impressive as Tatum’s shooting touch may be, there’s more to his game, like passing to teammates in critical, game-winning moments - that fans can look forward to. 

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