Neither Jayson Tatum nor Jrue Holiday had been scoring the ball to their standards over the past few games. However, the duo got back on track with their best respective performances of the postseason Saturday night to help the Boston Celtics come through with a bounce-back win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Tatum logged game-highs of 33 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists, while Holiday turned in 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and five assists.
Meanwhile, Jaylen Brown kept his hot stretch alive with 28 points on 13-of-17 shooting, and the C’s rolled to a 106-93 win at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse where they regained a 2-1 series lead while handing Cleveland its first home loss of the postseason.
Tatum hadn’t logged a 30-point effort since March 28. Opposing teams had been loading up on him defensively of late, forcing him to impact the game in other ways, which he’d been doing. But it was nice to finally have a high-volume scoring night while also leading the game in several other categories.
“He’s a really great player that gets taken advantage of because he’s been really good for a long time,” said head coach Joe Mazzulla. “We really appreciate him. I thought he played a great game on both ends of the floor.”
Brown encouraged Tatum during warmups to come out aggressive, and that’s exactly what he did. The All-NBA wing scored eight points in the opening four minutes of the game and 12 total in the first frame. He drove to the rack relentlessly, earning nine trips to the free-throw line, where he made each attempt.
Al Horford said after the game that it was only a matter of time before Tatum put forth one of his classic, dominant efforts.
“JT is a special player,” Horford said. “He always figures it out. He’s the last guy I worry about.”
Holiday also had a special night. He scored 15 of his 18 points in the first half, logging his highest-scoring game since Feb. 9 (20 points against Washington).
Scoring at high volume isn’t typically part of Holiday’s role on this team, but it’s what the Celtics needed out of him Saturday night, and he delivered at elite efficiency.
“Jrue was amazing tonight, and Jrue is kind of the glue that keeps us all together,” Tatum said. “He literally does everything that we need him to, sacrifices sometimes taking single-digit shots a couple games in a row. On a night where he can attack the mismatches, he can post up guys, he can obviously shoot the three. When he's being aggressive and in that great rhythm, it makes us that much better.”
When those two guys are both in a rhythm simultaneously, it makes the Celtics that much harder to beat. Add in Brown's performance, plus the bounce-back effort from the defense, and you've got a recipe for a convincing win.