Tatum managed to overcome the 30-point barrier for the thirty-ninth time in the championship, so doing so once again will set a historic mark for the franchise and leave behind what was achieved by the legendary Bird, during the 1987-88 season.
The event was consummated at the end of the game against the Sacramento Kings, in which the Celtics gave a coup of authority and mercilessly crushed the Californian team 132-109, one of the three best in the Western Conference.
Along with Tatum (36 points) Jalen Brown (27) and Derrick White (20) also shone, thus closing their tour away from the TD Garden in Boston with a positive balance of four successes in six games and, incidentally, confirming themselves as one of the candidates. strongest to the NBA title this season.
The defensive efficiency of the visitors handicapped the locals at the Golden Center in Sacramento, and not even another triple-double by Domantas Sabonis (16 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists) stimulated the Sacramento team to fight for the game, which arrived be up to 27 units down on the scoreboard.
In the case of Sabonis, he has 12 triple-doubles this season, far from the 28 achieved by Serbian Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), who is fighting to reach his third Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in tough battle with Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks).
With the Bucks, Celtics and 76ers already secured for the Eastern Conference playoffs, the day before the Cleveland Cavaliers took another step to join that outpost, after beating the Brooklyn Nets 115-109.
The seventh win for the Cavs in the last nine appearances featured Donovan Mitchell with 31 points, five triples and a beastly dunk, seconded by Caris LeVert (18 points coming off the bench), while starters Darius Garland and Evan Mobley contributed 17 each.
Cleveland has been absent from the playoffs since 2018, when LeBron James led the team to the title game, where they fell 0-4 to the champion Golden State Warriors.
At Atlanta’s State Farm Arena, the Hawks kept alive their chances of at least being included in the Play-In dispute, which awards two playoff berths between teams that finish between seventh and tenth in each conference. .
Led by Trae Young (30 points and 12 assists), the hosts beat the bottom-ranking Detroit Pistons 129-109.
New Orleans Pelicans also kept options to be in a similar phase, after beating San Antonio Spurs 119-84, with offensive highlights for Brandon Ingram (32 points) and Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas (19 and 15 rebounds).
Tuesday results:
— Orlando Magic 122– Washington Wizards 112
— Brooklyn Nets 109– Cleveland Cavaliers 115
— Atlanta Hawks 129– Detroit Pistons 107
— New Orleans Pelicans 119– San Antonio Spurs 84
— Sacramento Kings 109– Boston Celtics 132
— Los Angeles Clippers 100– Oklahoma City Thunder
mem/jcm
