Despite being hundreds of miles away from Boston, Jayson Tatum had no trouble feeling at ease in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday night. For a moment, the Spectrum Center even began to sound like TD Garden.
Chants of ‘Let’s go Celtics’ began filling the arena. In response, the Hornets began turning up the volume on their signature buzzing sound effect in an attempt to drown out the Celtics fans taking over Charlotte. It didn’t work. When Tatum arrived at the free-throw line in the third quarter,
he was greeted by a chorus of loud ‘MVP’ chants.
“It definitely feels like home,” Tatum confessed after Boston’s 119-80 NBA Cup win, per CLNS Media.
Tatum found his footing and began painting his latest masterpiece early on. He scored or assisted on 30 of the Celtics’ first 40 first-quarter points, which tied Paul Pierce for the most 15-point first quarters (106) in the franchise’s play-by-play history, according to ESPN Insights. By halftime, he had reached 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc, surpassing his combined 3-point makes from his three previous games.
If he wanted to, Tatum could’ve pursued his career-high (60 points). But instead, his night was called off after three quarters as the Celtics held a 96-57 runaway lead.
At that point, the damage was already done. Tatum only needed three frames to finish with 34 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists, falling a hair shy of securing his first triple-double of the season. He earned a fourth quarter of rest, watching from the bench as head coach Joe Mazzulla allowed reserves including Luka Garza, Mike Conley, and Ron Harper Jr. to get their reps in until the final buzzer.
The Celtics found a way to turn a trip to Charlotte into a home-away-from-home experience. For Tatum, as uplifting as the Boston fans in attendance may have been, the 28-year-old had other reasons to feel comfortable in North Carolina, dating back to his teenage years.
“I have a lot of connections here in this state, this area,” he explained. “I came here as an 18-year-old kid, my first time spending real time away from home. I was here for a little under a year, and obviously the connection I have here with Duke and the relationships that I’ve been able to build. I always love coming back to North Carolina and love playing here. A lot of Celtics fans, a lot of Duke fans. It’s always a good time coming back.”
Throughout his career, Tatum has always flipped the switch in Charlotte. He’s averaged 29.9 points with eight rebounds and 3.7 assists across 15 career games — not including Friday nights — against the Hornets on the road.
For as many ‘MVP’ chants as Tatum has drawn and will continue to draw this season, this performance certainly lived up to the billing. He did everything. He entered the night shooting 41.8 percent from the field and 22.9 percent from three before going 56.3 percent and 62.5 percent, respectively, in Charlotte.
“It was a pretty damn good night,” Payton Pritchard told reporters, per CLNS Media. “34 is pretty good.”
Tatum unleashed his dominance, both as a scorer and as a playmaker. He was the undisputed leader, carrying out a belt-to-backside thrashing that took Hornets head coach Charles Lee’s group out of contention well before the game had reached its end.
He also got to the line plenty, going a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe.
Pritchard continued: “He plays the right way, and he makes great decisions and [he’s] one heck of a ball player for sure.”
In each of his first eight appearances this season, Tatum has recorded six-plus assists.
It’s been only eight months since Tatum returned from his ruptured Achilles tendon last season, which is much more recent than it might sound. He’s still working toward completing his first full season since returning, and as much as he’s continued to pass the eye test, Tatum still doesn’t consider himself 100 percent just yet.
“Hell no,” Tatum told CelticsBlog’s Noa Dalzell. “I wish. I’m getting there, but no. How I felt before I got hurt was really, really good. I don’t feel too far, and again, I still only played less than 40 games since I’ve been back, so still in the quote-unquote rehab phase of returning to play.”
Still, he isn’t discouraged by the process.
“We’re gonna get there, though,” Tatum added.
On Wednesday, the Celtics survived letting go of a 22-point lead against the Milwaukee Bucks as Tatum rested on the sidelines. In Charlotte, they witnessed Tatum make the most of his additional rest and take another step toward becoming the leader Boston will need this season.
