The Celtics had already suffered two straight losses before the game against the Wizards, and if they couldn't find a way to win, they would most likely fall out of the top eight in the East. Their opponents in this campaign, the Wizards, who are temporarily ranked tenth, are currently one of the strong contenders for the final train position in the Eastern Conference, and this game is likely to be a preview of this season's Eastern Conference playoffs, so this campaign is very important for the Green Army.
In the first quarter of this game, the two sides were still able to play with each other, and the point difference was only 6 points before the end of the first quarter. By the second quarter, despite the Wizards' consecutive points in the opening quarter, the Celtics quickly scored 14 consecutive points and led their opponents by 15 points at the end of the first half. Yi Bian fought again, and the state of the Green Army in the third quarter of the game was still extremely hot, and a small climax of 18:6 was played, which once widened the point difference to 27 points. In the final quarter, although the Wizards still wanted to chase points, the point difference was too large, and the Green Army finally ended the losing streak with a 116:87 victory.
The most eye-catching thing in this game is the Celtics team boss Tatum, who has also become the biggest contributor to the Green Army's big victory. In just 33 minutes of playing, Tatum shot 18-of-28 from the field, including 9-of-14 three-pointers and a wild 51-pointer for 10 rebounds and 7 assists. Throughout the game, Tatum was like a nobody, whether it was breaking through the inside line or the outside long shot, no player in the Wizards could restrain Tatum very well, and in the end he easily scored 51 points after only playing a little more than three quarters.
After this game, Tatum set several records with his unsolvable play in this game. First, 51 points is Tatum's season-highest score so far this season, and the nine three-pointers hit also set a new number of three-pointers in his career. Secondly, in addition to 50+ points, Tatum also got 10 rebounds and 7 assists, which also made him the fourth player in NBA history to have 50 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in a single game and hit 9 three-pointers. In the end, it was the third time in his career that he scored 50+ points, second only to team star Larry Bird in team history.
Both this season and in the overall history of the Green Army, this game has meant a lot for Tatum. In terms of team history, Tatum has become more and more close to the top superstar Bird in team history in many records, which is not easy for him who has only been in the league for 5 years. In terms of this season, the importance of this campaign for Tatum is self-evident. First of all, under Tatum's leadership, the Green Army, which has performed poorly in recent games, has been able to win a big victory, which has largely given the team a breathing space and can improve the morale of the team.
Second, for Tatum himself, in fact, his overall performance so far this season is very difficult, according to statistics, in the 44 games playing for the Celtics this season, Tatum can average 25.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game, but the shooting rate is only 42.2%, the three-point shooting rate is only 32.4%, and both shooting rates have set a new career low. In many games this season, Tatum's shooting performance has been very sluggish, and even often less than 30% shooting.
This was something that many fans didn't expect before the start of the season, after all, Tatum's performance since entering the league has been very stable, and he has improved almost every season, but this season has seen a lot of regression, which has made him suffer a lot of questions. In addition, this is also one of the important reasons why the Green Army's performance this season is not satisfactory, and the big outbreak of this campaign has swept Tatum away the haze. Before this game, Tatum had only made a disastrous 12-pointer total in his last four games, but he hit a career-high nine three-pointers in this game.
Finally, the campaign is also significant for Tatum to lead the team to attack the playoffs, on the one hand, they can continue to occupy the eighth position in the East for the time being, and on the other hand, the Wizards are one of their strong contenders for the playoff spot, and every victory for these opponents will become very important by the end of the regular season. As of now, the Eighth and Ninth Greens and Raptors have tied the winning percentage and temporarily lead the tenth-place Wizards by 0.5 wins.
It is worth mentioning that the Wizards and Celtics have become a pair of rivals in the past two seasons in order to compete for a playoff spot, and Tatum will have an incredible performance almost every time he encounters the Wizards. In the final stages of last season's regular season, the Wizards suddenly played a brilliant performance and managed to make it to eighth place in the East. The first playoff will take place at the Seventh Green Army and the Eighth Wizards. In that play-off, the Celtics eventually won 118:100 to reach the playoffs as seventh.
In that game, Tatum shot 14 of 32 from the field and 17 free throws in a frenzied 50 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal, leading the team to win a crucial battle. And this season, Tatum's key turnaround opponent is also the Wizards, which is really laughable. Of course, although this game means a strong return to Tatum's form, it does not mean that he can be proud and complacent, after all, the current situation this season is still very uncertain for him and the Celtics, and the slightest carelessness will not make it to the playoffs.
Tatum himself is well aware of this, saying in an interview after the game that he knows that his recent shooting has not been very good, but it has not discouraged him: "I have conceded 20 consecutive three-pointers before, and I have scored 51 points in this game. Now we have to be ready for the next game. You should win without being arrogant or defeated, and we have to prepare for the next game. Sometimes, you just have to laugh it off, it's as simple as that. Sometimes, you just can't hit a shot. "As you can see from such words, Tatum's current state of mind is very good.
Tatum's big explosion is undoubtedly very good news for the Celtics, after all, as the new leader of the Green Army, his performance has a heavy role in the team's journey this season and beyond. Led by the duo, we have reason to believe that the Celtics will get better and better.