Jayson Tatum was recognized Monday with his 10th career Eastern Conference Player of the Week Award, fittingly within the same week that he logged his 10,000th career point.
The All-NBA wing helped the Celtics continue their undefeated start to the season during a 3-0 stretch from Oct. 30 to Nov. 5 in which he averaged 31.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 58.9 percent from the field, 54.2 percent from 3-point range, and 94.1 percent from the free-throw line. He had two double-doubles during the week and was incredibly consistent with his scoring, posting between 30 and 33 points in all three matchups. Additionally, he posted an absurd plus/minus total of plus-81 over the three-game stretch.
Tatum became just the third player in Celtics history to reach double-figures in Player of the Week nods, joining Paul Pierce (17) and Larry Bird (14). However, it’s worth noting that Pierce had accumulated just five by Tatum’s age (25 years, 248 days old), and Bird had only three.
It was the first time that Tatum earned the recognition since Week 1 of last season.
Now, let’s take a look back at each game from Tatum’s award-winning week.
10/30 at Washington
Tatum’s highest-scoring game of the week came right off the bat when he poured in 33 points in less than 28 minutes against the Washington Wizards. He had an extremely efficient night inside the arc at Capital One Arena, where he shot 10-of-12, and also had a strong showing from long range, where he made 4-of-9. On top of his scoring, Tatum grabbed six rebounds – all on the defensive end – dished out three assists, and turned the ball over just twice. He was a plus-27 in his 27-plus minutes of action and didn’t even have to step foot on the court during the fourth quarter in a 126-107 blowout win.
11/1 vs. Indiana
Tatum also didn’t play a single second of the fourth quarter in Wednesday night’s matchup against the Indiana Pacers, because it turned out to be an even more dominant effort for him and the C’s. The 25-year-old scored a game-high 30 points during a 155-104 bludgeoning of the Pacers in what was the second-highest-scoring game in franchise history. Once again, Tatum didn’t have to play much due to the lopsided nature of the game; this time he played just under 27 minutes. Still, he managed to earn a double-double with 30 points and 12 rebounds to go along with four assists and just two turnovers. Impressively, he put up the 30-piece while attempting just 15 field goals, making nine of them. It was the first game of the season in which he attempted fewer than 21 shots. Though, a good chunk of his scoring came from the free-throw line, where he shot a season-best 9-of-10. He also canned 3-of-5 from deep in the victory.
11/4 at Brooklyn
Tatum wrapped up his week in style Saturday night by becoming the youngest Celtic to reach 10,000 career points during a 32-point, 11-rebound effort in Brooklyn. For the fourth time in five games this season, Tatum made at least 50 percent of his field goals in a 10-of-20 effort. Six of those makes came from long-distance where he shot 60 percent on the night. He also made all six of his free-throw attempts, including the and-one conversion that put him at the 10K mark. This was a much closer matchup than the previous two, so Tatum saw nearly 41 minutes of action against the Nets. He put each of those minutes to good use as he guided the C’s to a 124-114 win, pushing their record to an NBA-best 5-0 on the season.