"M-V-P" chants in Denver...for Jayson Tatum?

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum led all scorers with 30 points, but Tatum was once again the talk of the game, getting the kind of love from fans visiting stars seldom get so emphatically.

DENVER– To hear “M-V-P” chants at Denver’s Ball Arena is nothing new.

After all, the defending league MVP Nikola Jokic is the centerpiece of the Denver Nuggets franchise.

But the “M-V-P” chants in the first half and later in the second, were for Boston’s Jayson Tatum who continues to play at an MVP-like level.

Tatum had 30 points, nine of which came in the second quarter which is when the Celtics took over in what would be yet another Boston beatdown that ended with a decisive 124-104 Celtics win.

Boston (44-28) has won three straight and nine of its last 11 games, steadily climbing up the Eastern Conference standings. The victory also moves the Celtics percentage points behind Milwaukee (44-27) for the third-best record in the East.

And with that success comes an undeniable desire for Celtics fans to give credit where credit is due.

There are several players whose play has been vital to Boston’s surge, but it’s hard to ignore or not praise the job that Tatum has done both as a scorer, facilitator and maybe most important, a leader.

There are the things that fans see Tatum provides such as points, rebounds and assists.

And then there are the team bonding-like efforts he does away from the game, like providing new phones to each of his teammates following the team’s morning shootaround in Sacramento.

Here are the Stars, Studs and Duds in Boston’s 124-104 win.

STARS

Jayson Tatum: Tatum’s second quarter put the Celtics in firm control of the game, control that the Nuggets put to the test in the fourth but were unable to get over the enormous 28-point ditch Boston put them in previously. For the game, Tatum had 30 points to go with six rebounds and seven assists.

Jaylen Brown: Where Tatum left off in the second quarter, Brown took over in the second half. He shared game-high scoring honors 30 points, 16 of which came in the third quarter. Brown also had six rebounds and a team-best plus/minus of plus-27.

Nikola Jokic: This was not one of Jokic’s best games, even though his final numbers might suggest he had a better showing than he actually had for the game. He finished with 23 points but did so on 8-for-23 shooting from the field. Through the first three quarters, he had tallied just two assists before finishing with four for the game.

STUDS

Payton Pritchard: The shot-making he has provided off the bench has been nothing short of impressive. Pritchard tallied 15 points which included him making all five of his 3-point attempts.

Daniel Theis: He scored seven straight points, which as it turned out would be the only points he would score for the game. They came in the first half and were important in helping Boston assert control of the game which they never gave up.

DUDS

Will Barton: When the focus intensifies on Nikola Jokic, Barton has to be that release valve for the Nuggets to still be effective. He wasn’t. Like most of his teammates, he too struggled to make shots, open and not-so-open ones. For the game, Barton had eight points on 3-for-10 shooting from the field.