Tatum, Brown Make NBA History with Tandem Effort in Dallas
Tatum, Brown Make NBA History with Tandem Effort in Dallas
The NBA saw incredible individual performances on a night that also included one of the best combo
two-way performances in league history from Celtics players Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
Joel Embiid destroyed the Spurs in Philadelphia, scoring 70 points in the process.
Karl Anthony-Towns scored 62 points in a loss against the Hornets in Minnesota.
Kevin Durant scored forty-three points to help the Suns defeat the Bulls.
Amazing solo performances all around.
However, in Dallas, it was all about the league’s greatest team, as Brown and Tatum put up 73 points
apiece to defeat the Mavericks 119-110.
In 41 minutes, Tatum finished first with 39 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, three steals, and two blocks.
Additionally, this game was on the second night of a back-to-back, following a 116-107 win over the
Houston Rockets. And it came against a strong Mavericks team that entered the night with a 24-18
record, coming off four days of rest.
“This was a mindset game,” Brown said of the tough test on the road, playing on no rest and without
Kristaps Porzingis. “We wanted to come out, play a little bit better than we’ve been playing before – even
though we won the last game in Houston. We wanted to come out with the right mentality and the right
mindset. So today we came out from the jump, and we were ready to go.”
Tatum came out hot from the jump with 13 points in the first quarter and turned in one of his best all-
around games ever. He was nearly unstoppable inside the 3-point arc where he made 9-of-13 and earned
19 trips to the free-throw line, just one shy of his career high. He was a game-best plus-27 in a game that
the C’s won by nine.
While Brown trailed Tatum by a small margin statistically, he ultimately faced a steeper challenge by
having to guard Luka Doncic for a good portion of the game. Brown edged Doncic, 34-33, in the scoring
department, but was also far more efficient; JB shot 13-of-22 from the field compared to Doncic’s 12-of-
30 clip.
“I feel like I’m one of the better defenders in the league, if not the better defender in the league,” Brown
said of taking on Doncic duty. “So it’s a challenge I felt like should be bestowed on me.”
On the other end, Doncic wasn’t quite as successful in guarding JB. That’s all we’ll say, but we’ll just
leave this clip here:
In addition, Kyrie Irving, who finished with 23 points on 9 of 20 shots, was admirably restrained by the
C’s. Boston’s star combo ultimately outscored Dallas’ star duo, 73-56 in the scoring department.
Tatum praised Dallas’ backcourt duo, saying, “Those are two of the best scorers in the league.” It’s a
defensive, arrogant attempt to defend your yard. Those players can score with the best of them, so we
had to be a cohesive team at all times. The game may grow out of control if you’re not careful, but we did
a nice job of just trying to make it challenging.
As we all know, Tatum and Brown can score with the best of them, too. They’re both capable of erupting
for massive individual efforts, just like Embiid, Towns, and Durant did, but the Celtics operate at their
best when the Jays are working as a one-two punch.
Boston is now 27-2 when both Jays score at least 30 points. And when they both play well at the
defensive end, too, the Celtics are virtually unstoppable.
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