At the end of regulation on Saturday night, Jayson Tatum bricked a potential game-winner so badly that he didn’t even hit the rim. When he got another chance to give the Boston Celtics a hard-fought win over the Toronto Raptors in the final seconds of overtime, he made sure it didn’t go to waste.
As time wound down in the extra frame, the Celtics held the ball for the final shot and set up a play that had Jaylen Brown running off staggered screens. That plan collapsed when Brown was chucked to the floor by Raptors guard Davion Mitchell, and Tatum had to go one-on-one. He sized up Ochai Agbaji, took a few dribbles to create space and let it fly from 30 feet.
Cash. Celtics win, 126-123.
“Every kid, growing up in their driveway or at a gym or a park counted down out loud and envisioned themselves in moments like this,” Tatum said. “I’ve always wanted to be a part of those moments.”
It was the polar opposite of his attempt at the end of regulation, which went wide left by about two feet.
“Man I missed so many shots in the second half, I was bound to hit one,” said Tatum, who missed all five of his second-half attempts. Later, he expounded on his mental fortitude: “I’ve got a lot of problems in life, confidence has never been one of them. I work too hard at my craft. I’ve played too much basketball to ever doubt.”
The Raptors entered on a six-game losing streak, and were without a number of key players, but they did not look like the massive underdogs they began the game as. RJ Barrett registered his first career triple-double (25 points, 10 rebounds, 15 assists), Jakob Poeltl went off for a career-high 35 points and they hung right with the Celtics all night long in a game that featured 12 ties and 27 lead changes.
Ultimately, though, the Celtics showed why they are the defending champions. On a night where they were without both Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis — and didn’t shoot the ball well — they still found a way to win.
Tatum finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, falling one stat shy of a triple-double for the second consecutive game.
“That was a big time shot,” Brown said. “We needed it bad. The last thing we wanted to do is go into double overtime against the Toronto Raptors.”
