Jayson Tatum prints a vintage Game 7 masterpiece with 51 points to send Boston to the Eastern Conference finals.
Jayson Tatum had something to prove Sunday. Coming off a sluggish performance in Game 6 of Boston’s Eastern Conference semifinals series with Philadelphia, the All-Star forward returned to Boston ready to move on. And that’s exactly what he did, exploding for 51 points to power the Celtics to an Eastern Conference finals berth with a dominant 112-88 win over the Sixers.
Tatum’s 51-point masterpiece trumps the previous Game 7 record set only two weeks ago by Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, who had 50 points in Game 7 against the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the 2023 NBA playoffs.
Present and former NBA players were in awe of the performance, applauding Tatum during and after the victory on social media:
Jay killin these dudes ~ too Ez!
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) May 14, 2023
Make it right JT!!! AGAIN!
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) May 14, 2023
50pt playoff games aren’t for everybody! Only a few know about that type of hoop!!!! #Levels
— Isaiah Thomas (@isaiahthomas) May 14, 2023
Damn @jaytatum0 woke up today and chose violence 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾wow
— Paul Pierce (@paulpierce34) May 14, 2023
He wasn’t lying about being one of the best in the world 🤣😅 That‘s Tuff! 💯🔥 pic.twitter.com/QWg5EUB8sX
— Dennis Schröder (@DS17_FG) May 14, 2023
Why JT was not finalist in MVP race ??😳
— Jusuf Nurkić 🇧🇦 (@bosnianbeast27) May 14, 2023
Go crazy JT
— andre (@andre) May 14, 2023
Tatum again!! 🔥🔥 BOS +28. Chauuuuu. 👋
— Manu Ginobili (@manuginobili) May 14, 2023
Tatum said he’s one of the Best Players in the World… and damn if he’s showing it in this first half
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) May 14, 2023
