It wasn’t necessarily pretty, but the Boston Celtics managed to rally from an 18-point deficit midway through the third quarter to pick up a 114-111 victory in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference Finals series against the Indiana Pacers. Jayson Tatum was dominant for the C’s from start to finish in this one, and there was one play in particular from him that caught Jaylen Brown’s attention.
Tatum paced the Celtics in the three main statistical categories (36 PTS, 10 REB, 8 AST, 12/23 FGM), while also shooting with great efficiency along the way. When the Pacers keyed in on him on defense, he had no problem dishing it out to his teammates, and a sweet behind-the-back pass to Al Horford on a three in the fourth quarter got quite a reaction from Brown.
Jaylen Brown’s reaction to this play from Jayson Tatum, per @CelticsCLNS.
“Hang it in the fucking Louvre”
pic.twitter.com/Fa3RDbc0j8— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) May 26, 2024
Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum starred for Celtics in Game 3 comeback
Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Ironically enough, this pass in the clip above wasn’t even the play Brown was talking about, but it says a lot that there were multiple plays from Tatum that could have fit the description. The actual play that got this rave review from Brown came late in the fourth quarter and ended up cutting the Pacers lead down to two with just over a minute left to go.
JAYSON TATUM BEHIND THE BACK PASS FOR AN AL 3 pic.twitter.com/4L4mticQE1
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) May 26, 2024
Talk about a big time play. Without this huge assist from Tatum to Horford, the Celtics probably aren’t successful in their attempt to rally back against the Pacers. And not to mention, it takes a lot of guts to fire this dangerous pass towards the corner considering how much was on the line late in this one. Big time players need to make big time plays, and that’s precisely what Tatum did here.
And sure enough, the Celtics would play perfect basketball over the remaining minute to go on and win the game. But none of that is possible without Tatum’s strong play throughout the game. He had a number of other highlights, such as burying a three from the top of the key moments earlier, that helped Boston take a commanding 3-0 lead in this series.
The C’s surely would have liked to have gotten this victory in a less dramatic fashion considering how Indiana didn’t have their best player in Tyrese Haliburton out on the floor, but a win is a win in the postseason, no matter how you manage to get it. And with just one more victory, Boston will book their spot in the NBA Finals.
Brown and the rest of the Celtics supporting cast delivered when they had to, but it was Tatum’s starring performance that led the way. This huge pass was just one of several winning plays he made throughout this one, and if he and Brown can continue to play at a similarly high level on Monday night in Game 4, chances are they will advance to the Finals.