Jayson Tatum’s 50-point masterpiece absolutely proves the NBA’s play-in tournament is worth it
Tatum #Tatum
There were lots of questions about the NBA’s play-in tournament as we moved closer and closer to it.
Is this a good thing for the NBA? Does this incentivize mediocrity from NBA teams? This was something that even superstars like LeBron James were even talking down on. And if LeBron James doesn’t like it, then how can it be good for the NBA?
When you really boil it down, these are all fringe playoff teams who, otherwise, are competing for a slim chance to pull off an upset on a higher seed in round 1. In the NBA, that almost never happens.
As someone who was already lukewarm on the play-in, I was hoping that today’s games would prove to me that it belonged. That this was something that could and should be a key cog in the future of this league that I love.
And — I won’t lie to you — after the Pacers absolutely drubbed the Hornets to start off the night, I was totally worried about the play-in. I was already tepid about it
It all felt like a gimmick. These were two mediocre teams playing against each other with one beating up on the other. It wasn’t fun. It wasn’t entertaining. It was…pretty boring.
But then, Jayson Tatum dropped 50 points on my Wizards.
After coming out slow and falling down early to the Wizards in the first half, Tatum absolutely put the Celtics on his back and fought for their playoff lives. He started 5-15 in the first half for 18 points. In the second, he went 9-17 and poured in 32 points.
He was unguardable. He hit beautiful moves like this one.
And this one.
And this one, too.
All of that on his way to the first 50-point game in play-in history. That’s pretty impressive. He’s now the third-youngest player to ever score 50 points in the postseason — if you count the play-in as a postseason game, that is.
Either way, that’s pretty impressive. And it proves exactly why the play-in is valuable for the NBA.
This is a wild card game. The stakes are high. It’s a winner-take-all contest in which we get an opportunity to watch the best athletes in the world leave it all on the floor.
Are the games flawed? Maybe. Are they a bit unfair to the 7th and 8th seed? Certainly. But this was also really fun. And, as a fan of the game, that’s all you can really ask for.
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