Jayson Tatum and the defending champion Boston Celtics got back on track Saturday with a comfortable 115-93 win over the New York Knicks in Game 3 of their second-round series. After blowing 20-point leads in Games 1 and 2, the Celtics took care of business to make the series 2-1 in favor of the Knicks.
In the process, Tatum scored 22 points and surpassed his idol, the late Kobe Bryant, for the second-most playoff points by age 27. Only LeBron James has more points at 27 than Tatum. Here’s a look at the all-time leaders in this category, which is a star-studded list.
Most points in NBA playoff history — Age 27 or younger
| Player | Points |
|---|---|
|
LeBron James |
3,275 |
|
Jayson Tatum |
2,894 |
|
Kobe Bryant |
2,889 |
|
2,620 |
Tatum wasn’t spectacular on Saturday afternoon, but he was much better than he has been earlier in the series. He hit five 3-pointers (the Celtics as a team poured in 20, nearly as many as the 25 they made in the first two games combined) en route to 22 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
This was already the 120th playoff game of Tatum’s career. As a rookie, he helped the Celtics reach the Eastern Conference finals, where they nearly upset James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, and has never missed the playoffs since then. Over his eight seasons, he’s won a championship, made five Eastern Conference finals and been eliminated in the first round just once.
While Tatum has certainly had good teams around him, he’s been the driving force of the Celtics’ success for much of his career, and especially the last four seasons. While his performance in the postseason has often been called into question, and rightfully so at times, that’s also a product of being on the big stage every single year. Overall, it’s hard to argue with Tatum’s production.
Entering Saturday, Tatum was averaging 24.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game in his playoff career. Only five other players in NBA history have made at least 50 postseason appearances and have averaged at least 24/8/4 for their playoff career: Elgin Baylor, LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic.
Tatum’s legacy seems to come under debate after every game or series, and that won’t change over the next week as the Celtics try to come back from a 2-0 deficit and keep their hopes of a repeat alive. To do so, they’ll need Tatum at his best.
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