UNSTOPPABLE DUO! Jaylen Brown & Jayson Tatum Drop Historic Scoring Bomb on Cavs – Fans Left STUNNED!
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have recorded dozens of high-scoring tandem efforts, but nothing quite like what they accomplished Friday night against the best team in the NBA.
The duo collaborated for 83 points against the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers, marking their largest combined scoring effort as teammates.
Remarkably, Tatum’s 46 points plus Brown’s 37 weren’t enough to lead Boston to a win. The Cavaliers overcame a 22-point first-quarter deficit while riding a 41-point performance from Donovan Mitchell and came out on top, 123-116 at TD Garden, spoiling the Jays’ historic night.
Tatum made personal history and league history in several ways amid a near-50-point triple-double.
He started on a tear, logging 18 points, seven rebounds, and three assists in the first quarter, becoming just the third player in the play-by-play era (dating back to 1996) to reach those stats in an opening frame along with Luka Doncic and Kevin Love. His 18 points also tied a career-high for first-quarter scoring.
On his 12th point of the night, Tatum passed Wilt Chamberlain into sixth place on the NBA’s scoring list among players before reaching their 27th birthday.
Tatum, who will celebrate his 27th birthday on Monday, also made his 1,500th career 3-pointer during the first half, making him the only player in NBA history to make that many threes before turning 27. In fact, only two players have made at least 1,500 threes before turning 28: Stephen Curry (1,509) and Klay Thompson (1,500).
Tatum finished the first half with 30 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, making him the first NBA player in the play-by-play era to reach those numbers in any half of a game.
By the end of the third quarter, Tatum was just two assists shy of a 40-point triple-double; he had 40 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, and two blocks entering the final frame. He would finish with 46 points, 16 rebounds, nine assists, and three blocks, making him the second player in NBA history (and the first in nearly 50 years) to reach those stats in regulation, joining Alvin Adams (Feb. 2, 1977).
But don’t let all of that history overshadow what his wing-mate accomplished by his side.
Brown had one of his best games of the season, finishing with 37 points on 13-of-24 shooting from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. He also had four offensive rebounds and handed out a pair of assists.
“Tremendous game by both of those guys,” said Al Horford. “This is essentially three (games) in four nights for us and JT, just so impressed with his energy, with his poise and everything that he did. And JB as well, answering the call, making tough plays, hitting tough shots. Defensively, can’t ask for more from those guys. Those guys were really putting it out there … Obviously we have to look at film and see how we can get better, but I mean, those guys were phenomenal. When they’re going like that, we just have to kind of rally behind them. And they almost took us home tonight with the win.”
They almost always take the Celtics home in games like this. Entering the night, Boston had won 26 out of the 28 games in which the Jays scored at least 30 points apiece. But it hurt being without Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, as the rest of the group combined only mustered 33 points.
Despite the loss, we can’t ignore the greatness Brown and Tatum showed us on Friday night. And the fact that they did lose will drive them even more going into Sunday’s matchup against the Denver Nuggets.
“There are things that we both probably could have done to put the team in a better position,” Tatum said. “But you learn from it and get ready for Sunday. It should be another fun one.”
