Ben Simmons is the favorite to win Rookie of the Year, but the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum has taken the league by storm.
Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum Continues to Amaze
Tatum, the third overall pick out of Duke by the Boston Celtics in last June’s NBA draft, has become an important scorer for the team with the best record.
The Celtics (22-5) lost last night in a tough game against the Spurs in San Antonio after a 4-1 homestand. Despite the loss, Tatum scored 20 points on 6-11 shooting from the field, to go along with 8 rebounds. Tatum entered Friday with the highest shooting percentage from beyond the arc (51.9), and he has scored 15 or more points in 15 straight games.
Jaylen Brown and Marcus Morris both missed Wednesday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks but the Celtics moved to 8-0 against the Western Conference because Tatum stepped up. He scored 17 points and contributed 10 rebounds for his second career double-double.
In addition, Tatum became the first Celtics’ player to score 15 or more points in 14 consecutive games since Paul Pierce accomplished the same feat in 1999.
A Surprising Addition
The craziest part about Tatum’s success behind the line is he was never a three-point shooter in college. In one season at Duke, Tatum shot 34.2 percent from the three-point stripe.
But he has made a seamless transition to the highest level of professional basketball, adding to his game in year one while showing maturity beyond his years.
At the same time as he has improved his three-point shot, Tatum has continued to shoot the ball at a high percentage from the field.
In 29 games (27 starts) as a Blue Devil, Tatum had a 45.2 field goal percentage and made 50.4 percent of his two-point shots. Tatum has made 50.2 percent of his shots for Boston.
Tatum can create his own offense from anywhere on the floor and has become the Celtics’ second-best scoring option.
He earned his opportunity after Gordon Hayward suffered an injury in the Celtics first game against the Cleveland Cavaliers and has exceeded expectations.
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