Another Historical performance for Jayson Tatum
Tatum carried the Celtics to a series-tying Game 6 victory over Milwaukee, scoring 46 points which is the second-highest point total for a Celtic facing playoff elimination.
When shock and awe ran rampant throughout Celtics Nation following the team’s Game 5 collapse against Milwaukee, Jayson Tatum was calm during those stormy, tumultuous times.
“The series is not over,” Tatum told reporters after the loss.
True to his word, Tatum responded with an iconic Game 6 performance in leading the Boston Celtics to a 108-95 win over Milwaukee to force a winner-moves-on Game 7 in Boston on Sunday.
Tatum scored 46 points, one shy of tying the franchise record held by Sam Jones for the most points scored in an elimination game.
But this win, like most in this series, did not come about easily.
That’s par for the course for the Celtics this season, a team that has met adversity face-to-face several times this season without flinching.
But the challenge they face currently has been their greatest to date as they try and dethrone the reigning NBA champions.
Here are the other Stars as well as the Studs and Duds from Boston’s series-tying Game 6 win at Milwaukee.
STARS
Jayson Tatum: Chalk this up to yet another iconic Jayson Tatum game. He led the Celtics with 46 points, one shy of tying the franchise record held by the late Sam Jones, for most points scored in an elimination game. Along with his scoring, Tatum also had nine rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot.
Giannis Antetokounmpo: You know this was a great game when you look at Giannis’ stat line and realize he was not the best player on the floor. Still, that doesn’t take away from what was a special performance by Anetokounmpo. He led all Bucks with 44 points, 20 rebounds and six assists. He became the first player since Shaquille O’Neal in 2001 to tally a double-double of at least 40 points and 20 rebounds, in the same playoff game.
STUDS
Marcus Smart: His defense, timely shot-making and overall feel for the game was working all night for Boston. It was one of Smart’s more efficient games, scoring 21 points on 8-for-15 shooting from the field. He also had five rebounds and seven assists without a single turnover.
Pat Connaughton: The Arlington, Mass. native was a problem for his hometown team most of Game 6. Other than Antetokounmpo, there wasn’t a Bucks player delivering more big shots at critical moments in Game 6, than Connaughton. He would finish the game with 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field along with four rebounds and two assists.
DUDS
Grayson Allen: This was yet another in a long list of less-than-stellar performances by Grayson Allen in this series. He scored just 3 points while missing six of his seven shot attempts. Not only was he not scoring, but his presence on the floor coincided (or contributed to, depending on your level of fandom for the Bucks) with some of the Bucks’ worst stretches of play in Game 6 which can be seen in Milwaukee being a minus-29 when he was on the floor.