Jayson Tatum acts as closer in Game 5 win over Orlando

Jayson Tatum has had countless incredible playoff moments over the course of his career with the Celtics but the final three games he played against the Magic might be up there with some of his best.

After a low scoring game in Game 1 and missing Game 2 due to a wrist injury, Tatum bounced back in Games 3-5. He averaged 36 PPG, 10.3 REB, and 5.7 AST on 48% shooting from the field, 44% shooting from three, and 100% from the free throw line. Tatum joins Larry Bird as the only other Celtics player in history to score 35+ points in three straight playoff games.

Tatum’s ability to carry the offense in times where everyone else on the team couldn’t hit a shot was absolutely huge for Boston in this series. To the Magic’s credit, they did a great job forcing the Celtics to go away from Mazzulla Ball and force them to play a heavy isolation game. However, that doesn’t really work when you have one of the best isolation players in the game.

He finished the series with arguably his best game in Game 5 with 35 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds on 10/16 shooting, 4/5 from three, and 11/11 from the free throw line.

Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Tatum was the main source of the Celtics scoring in the first quarter as Boston fell behind by 9 points early he was able to keep them in the game. A dunk off a nice pass by Luke Kornet and a midrange jumper over Paolo Banchero started to get the Celtics offense back in gear after a rough start.

After sitting the start of the second quarter, Tatum came back in and continued to be aggressive going downhill towards the basket. The Magic were so concerned about running the Celtics off of the three-point line that it gave Tatum a free runway to basket whenever he wanted. He put the exclamation point on the first half for the Celtics with a two handed poster dunk on Wendell Carter Jr. as time expired after a nasty euro step had Banchero jumping out of the way.

The last time the Celtics didn’t hit a three in the first half of a game was on October 30th, 2021 against the Washington Wizards. It seems fitting then that Tatum began the second half with the first three pointer of the night for the Celtics with 10:22 left in the third quarter.

Tatum had a 1-on-1 matchup with Banchero and shot right over the top of him for the three. He then went down again and hit another three, this time getting Goga Bitadze on an island and once again shooting it over the outstretched hand of the defender.

The Tatum Tornado continued in the third quarter with his third pull up three of the quarter as the Celtics were in the midst of a 30-9 run with Paolo Banchero sitting on the bench with foul trouble. Tatum walked down and crossed up Anthony Black as he swished the three again and had the TD Garden crowd in a frenzy.

His final bucket of the game was a poetic way to end his night and the series as a whole as he hit his fourth three pointer of the second half. This time he was 1 on 1 with Carter, as he rose up and made the three as Carter landed in his air space for a foul. And-1, Tatum made his 11th free throw of the night, and the stay ready checked in to finish off the Magic.

People have given Jayson Tatum criticism in the past for his inconsistency at times with his scoring in the playoffs. They think its a mark against him that his “super team” around him can bail him out of an off night shooting. Well, his “super team” was not all the way there for him in this series.

Jaylen Brown had an excellent series but was still limited by his right knee injury, Jrue Holiday missed the final three games of the series with a hamstring injury, and Payton Pritchard, Kristaps Porzingis, and Derrick White didn’t have the best series when it came to scoring.

This just highlights even more that Jayson Tatum is the engine that keeps the Celtics machine running and when Boston needs him most, you can always count on Tatum show up in the big game and perform.

Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images