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WATCH: Jayson Tatum hits OT game-winner & gets historic 40-point game vs. Nets
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- WATCH: Jayson Tatum hits OT game-winner & gets historic 40-point game vs. Nets
WATCH: Jayson Tatum hits OT game-winner & gets historic 40-point game vs. Nets originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Outside noise can be quite a lot to deal with in the NBA. Jayson Tatum is all too familiar with that. He started his career as a winner and now has to keep that tradition going. Things have gotten harder, too, with a perceived beef with Jaylen Brown. However, the Boston Celtics star does not seem too worried. All he cares about is adding more entries to the win column. When the rough games and clutch situations roll around, he answers. He proved that during his insane game-winner against the Brooklyn Nets .
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Tatum breaks internet with OT game-winner vs. Nets
The Celtics are now Jayson Tatum's team , and not a single soul can contest that. Everyone knows the ball will be in his hands in the final seconds of a game, whether Coach Joe Mazzulla directs it or not. Doubts lingered about whether he could handle the pressure after an odd year following an Achilles injury. But those woes were dispelled in the Celtics' 125-124 win over the Nets.
Tatum got a turnaround shot to beat the buzzer in overtime and seal the win.
Celtics fans absolutely went wild after Tatum's shot went in.
"Jayson Tatum lookin like the MVP lmao," a fan declared.
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Another avid NBA spectator could not help but throw shade at a certain Philadelphia 76ers player, "If u ever thought Tatum should've been traded over brown at any point in their time in Boston together, go kick rocks. Tatum is winning MVP this year. His world we're just living in it."
One other fan kept receipts and wanted to highlight the discourse surrounding the Celtics star, "It gets lost every season how clutch Tatum is, but that's 2 games in 4 this season where he's just hit shots everytime he's been called upon."
Tatum was great outside the clutch, too. Coach Mazzulla entrusted him with a team-high 42 minutes, and he delivered. He dropped 40 points on 50% shooting while going 81.8% from the free-throw line. The Celtics superstar was also an offensive glue guy, dropping eight assists without committing a single turnover against the Nets.
Defensively, Tatum was also locked in. He grabbed five rebounds and added a block. All of it snowballed into the Celtics' third win of the season.
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Celtics & Tatum get historic records vs. Nets
The game-winner wasn't the only thing Jayson Tatum could boast in this win over the Nets. He also broke a few records.
For starters, Tatum extends his lead in 40-point, 5-rebound, and 5-assist games before turning 29 in Celtics history. The list goes as follows .
| Rank |
Name |
No. of 40/5/5 Games |
|---|---|---|
| 1. |
Jayson Tatum |
17 |
| 2. |
Larry Bird |
11 |
| 3. |
Paul Pierce |
6 |
| 4. |
John Havlicek |
3 |
| |
Dee Brown |
3 |
| 6. |
Antoine Walker |
2 |
| 7. |
Bob McAdoo |
1 |
| |
Rajon Rondo |
1 |
| |
Kyrie Irving |
1 |
| |
Jaylen Brown |
1 |
| |
Payton Pritchard |
1 |
Moreover, Tatum is the fastest Celtics player to reach 100+ points, 25+ rebounds, and 25+ assists. The Celtics superstar currently has 112 total points, 25 rebounds, and 32 assists for the 2026-27 NBA season. This isn't the only record where he sits beside Bird.
Tatum became only the second player in Celtics franchise history to record 40+ points and 8+ assists without committing a single turnover. Bird is the only player to have done this twice. He did it against the Portland Trail Blazers in 1988 and the Orlando Magic in 1990, per Dick Lipe of NBC Sports.
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Tatum wasn't the only one to get a piece of Celtics history against the Nets. Paul George also went ballistic on defense. The veteran was entrusted to play 36 minutes and went off on the defensive side of the ball. George finished with two steals to stifle the Nets' offense. As a result, he is now averaging 2.3 steals per game, the most out of any player in Celtics history. The historic ranking goes as follows.
| Rank |
Name |
SPG |
|---|---|---|
| 1. |
Paul George |
2.3 |
| 2. |
Rajon Rondo |
1.9 |
| 3. |
David Wesley |
1.7 |
| |
Larry Bird |
1.7 |
| 5. |
Kenny Anderson |
1.6 |
| |
Ron Mercer |
1.6 |
| |
Marcus Smart |
1.6 |
| 8. |
Antoine Walker |
1.5 |
| 9. |
Paul Pierce |
1.4 |
| |
Dee Brown |
1.4 |
| |
Charlie Scott |
1.4 |
The season is still long for the Celtics. However, Tatum is proving he can carry Coach Mazzulla's expectations and schemes on his back when needed.
