Jayson Tatum heads into the All-Star break on a high note
Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics made sure they would head into the All-Star break on a strong note as they ended the first half with a three-game win streak. The team went on to win Wednesday’s game 116-103 against the San Antonio Spurs, and Tatum played a massive role putting up 32 points in the effort.
“The last game before the All-Star break is always one of the toughest games of the year,” said Tatum after the game on Wednesday, “In recent years we’ve dropped this game a few times, so I thought it was really important the way we started and made sure we were locked in throughout the game.”
The Celtics certainly got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 37-19 lead after the first quarter. Tatum was the spark, putting up 14 points.
Over the three-game win streak, Tatum has been the highest scorer on the floor. Leading into the break, the six-time All-Star averaged an impressive 35 points per game, scoring no less than 32 points in any of the outings. He hit his shots at a very effective rate — 49.4 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from three.
“You want to go into the break playing well and playing good basketball. I would say over the last 10 games we’ve done that,” Tatum said. During the stretch Tatum is referring to, the Celtics have a record of 8-2 and have seemingly turned the page on their month-and-a-half long stretch of .500-basketball.
Tatum’s productivity also came at a key time for the Celtics. For the games on Monday and Wednesday, the team was without Jaylen Brown, so they need a larger contribution from their other stars. Tatum certainly gave them that extra boost.
Luke Graham is a digital sports content co-op for 98.5 the Sports Hub. He is currently a sophomore communications student at Northeastern University. Follow him on X @LukeGraham05.
