Jayson Tatum’s start to the season draws league recognition

After being named first-team All-NBA last year, the next step for Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum in terms of individual accomplishments is winning an MVP. Being MVP means being the NBA's best player throughout the season, day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month. For Tatum, he now has one very successful month in the books.

On Monday, the NBA announced Tatum was the Eastern Conference Player of the Month of November (technically this award also includes the final week of October). It was the first Player of the Month award given out by the league this season.

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--Celtics eliminated from in-season tournament
--Good news on Kristaps Porzingis
--Full Celtics coverage

This is Tatum's third Player of the Month nod of his career. It's also the second year in a row he's won the award in November (he also won it in February of 2020).

Through the first 20 games of the season Tatum is averaging 27.6 points per game. That ranks ninth in the NBA and third in the Eastern Conference, behind just Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Tatum is shooting 49.9 percent from the floor and 36.2 percent from three, while grabbing 8.9 rebounds and dishing 4.2 assists per game.

Despite that start, Tatum has the fourth-best odds to win league MVP, at +900 according to DraftKings. He's behind favorite Nikola Jokic (who won Western Conference Player of the Month), as well as Luka Doncic, and Embiid.

Alex Barth is a writer and digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Looking for a podcast guest? Let him know on Twitter @RealAlexBarth or via email at abarth@985TheSportsHub.com.

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There are blowouts and there are blowouts, but the Celtics blowout of the Indiana Pacers last night probably belongs in its own category.

In obliterating the Pacers, the Celtics posted the second-highest point total in franchise history behind only a 173-point outburst against the Minneapolis Lakers in 1958-59. As a team, the Celtics 56.8 overall, 57.1 percent from 3-point distance, 56.6 on 2-pointers and 96.4 percent from the free-throw line (27-of-28). The  team finished with eight scorers and had only player who finished with 20 points or greater (Jayson Tatum, 30).

By quarter, the Celtics' totaled 44, 31, 34 and 46 points. Their running totals through those checkpoints were 44, 75, 109 and 155.

So how good is this team? Obviously, it's very good. We knew that coming into the season, though a Celtics blowout like last night's tends to open eyes everywhere. But using games like this is a mistake for lots of reasons, not the list of which is the opponent on any given night. That hardly means the Pacers entirely stink, though they do 35-47 last season. Still, reaching 155 points in NBA requires the losing team to be complicit, and the Pacers played "defense" last night like they didn't understand the concept of competitive team sports.

Anyway, there are a few significant takeaways from the first four games of this Celtics season, some of which we'll touch on here.

If you missed the game, no worries. You really didn't to watch beyond the first quarter. Through the wonder of modern technology, we were able to stitch together all but one Celtics field goal in the video below. Once edited, we sped up the whole thing so that you could effectively see the 155 points in 155 seconds, excluding the one missing field goal and the 27 free throws converted.

If four games so far this season, Tatum is shooting 56.3 percent overall, 40.7 percent from 3-point distance, 66.7 percent on 2-pointers and 80 percent from the free-throw line. He's averaging 29.8 points, 9.3 rebounds (a career high) and four assists. Turnovers remain a constant work in progress for both Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but it's hard to be more efficient than he has been thus far.

Look, when it comes to defense, we often focus on the stats - steals and blocks, in particular. But at the end of the day, the simplest goal of defense is this: can you force the opponent into a bad or difficult shot? Currently, the Celtics have held opponents to the fourth-lowest shooting percentage in the NBA. Boston also has allowed, on average, the fifth-fewest points per game in the paint.

Why is this important? With the departures of Marcus, Smart, Grant Williams and Robert Williams, there was much concern about the impact on the Celtics' defense. So far, both Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis have filled the gap and more, particularly inside the 3-point line.

One note: Early on, the New York Knicks and Miami Heat torched the Celtics from 3-point distance. Keep an eye on that. Better performances in the last two games have made the Celtics 10th best in the league defending the 3-point line, but it's worth watching.