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Tim BontempsESPN
BOSTON – After Celtics star Jayson Tatum scored 44 points to lead his side to a 119-114 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, Stephen Curry scored a spectacular 47-point performance in the process , Tatum said it’s a thrill for him to go with the future Hall of Famer and come out on top.
“Just mutual respect,” Tatum said when asked about the conversation the two had afterwards in court in TD Garden. “Of course two great performances. I was glad we got the win, but he’s obviously one of the great players of all time.
“Just to earn his respect and win the same night … it was a good night.”
It was a great night for everyone who watched this one as the Celtics and Warriors battled it out in one of the most entertaining games of the season. But while Curry was late in his teasing series and conceded 30 points for a tenth consecutive game, it was Boston who once again showed the kind of grain and toughness it so often lacked earlier this season. The Celtics overcame a 16-point deficit in the first half and returned to achieve a dramatic victory that ended in a play-off match, compared to one in the middle of the regular season.
Much of it was due to the back-and-forth battle between Tatum and Curry – one that Tatum, who finished 16-for-25 and 5-for-9 overall in the 3-point series, eventually won.
“First of all, I’ve awe for what I watched tonight,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “From a skill level and a level of competition, it felt like a playoff game out there. Both teams were just gassed and participated like crazy, and just incredible shooting, especially from Steph and Jayson. So what a “It hurts to lose, but I told the team I feel they got better tonight.”
It was the kind of game the Celtics would have lost very easily earlier this season. But for Boston, which has won six in a row and eight out of nine since the calendar through April, these kinds of performances are becoming increasingly credible. This is the third time in four games that the Celtics have overcome a double-digit deficit – after doing so on Sunday in Denver and Portland – to keep this series going.
But while there is clearly a new energy and momentum around this team that has not been there before, Celtics coach Brad Stevens said it comes from a fairly clear place: that the Celtics are finally making the most of their could get core rotation on the track. and played together lately – even though they were without three of their top six players in Jaylen Brown, Evan Fournier and Robert Williams on Saturday night.
“I think the biggest reason for our little turn here is that we were mostly healthier,” Stevens said. “Now tonight we were a little less, but we missed a lot of guys earlier in the year. And I know that sounds like an excuse. I hope not. I think what we’re trying to do is keep our heads above water if as good as we could and hope we get to a time where we get a little healthier and put together some good basketball a few weeks.Through all this, our guys have done incredible work to stay together.And if that happens , and then you will gain some momentum, then you tend to react if you do not feel well. ‘
Of course, it also helps to warm up a young star, as Tatum did in this one, while Kemba Walker bagged 26 points – including a critical three-pointer with 24.8 seconds left to fend off Curry and the Warriors. But after his last major performance, Tatum now averages 29.3 points in April, and has finally helped the Celtics move away from the possibility of being in the play-offs after a season full of attacks that seen several players. – including Tatum – contract COVID-19.
Tatum scored 53 points in this building just eight days ago to reach a new career, but the game was against Minnesota Timberwolves, one of the league’s weakest teams. This one came on national television in a back-and-forth duel with one of the biggest players of the match in Curry – a match that saw both players hit massive blows in the piece.
“It’s incredible,” Celtics winger Marcus Smart said of Tatum’s development. “It’s a good feeling to see, it’s a good feeling to be part of it. Just to see his development and see him continue to climb into a big player, it was definitely a pleasure to be a part of. “
And along the way, Tatum deserves the respect of Curry, who had a lot of praise for the young star after the game was over.
“I just told him he’s very tough, man,” Curry said. ‘You can see that the game has slowed down for him. Just the way he chooses and chooses his places and how he gets the game right. He shoots the ball much better from the perimeter, but if the game slows down, I do not want to know if it is now four or five years, whatever he is, then you become lethal.
“With your skill, his size and their system, he knows him, so he’s a top talent. Top talent.”