Jayson Tatum: ‘Humbly, I’m one of the best basketball players in the world’

PHILADELPHIA — Jayson Tatum went through one of the worst shooting stretches of his career in the Celtics’ Game 6 win over the 76ers on Thursday night. However, that did not impact his confidence after a dramatic comeback win.

Tatum erupted for 16 points in the game’s final five minutes after a 1-of-14 shooting start, which helped carry Boston to a finish line in a gritty 95-86 victory to force Game 7.

After the victory, Tatum talked about how he kept his attitude up despite those struggles.

“Humbly, I’m one of the best basketball players in the world,” Tatum told Cassidy Hubbarth . “You go through struggles, go through slumps. It’s a long game. Thankfully, I’ve got some great teammates that held it down.

“They all trust me. They tell me, keep taking great looks. It’s gonna fall. Keep impacting the game in other ways. And all that matters was we won this game. Give ourselves another chance, come back home for a Game 7.”

The All-Star also expanded on those comments in his postgame press conference.

“I truly believe that and I know that,” Tatum said of his statement. “It’s easy to tell yourself that when you’ve got 40 or 35, but I think that shows character when you can tell yourself that when you only hit one shot. Things not going your way and you gotta be the same person, have the same morals, the same character when things go up and down. I just kept telling myself that I believe in myself ‘til it turned around.”

Tatum finished with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in the victory and plans on bringing a better effort for Boston as the series shifts back to the Garden for Game 7.

“I don’t want to do this s*** again,” Tatum said. “Hopefully, that’s a one-time thing. Hopefully, I start off better, things like that. But if this is what it takes for us to win, I’ll go for whatever. Sunday is obviously a big game, Game 7, and I’m excited to go back and kinda like redeem ourselves in front of our home crowd. I’m excited to see them. The building is gonna be rocking. We need everybody there, everybody full of energy. Cause we gonna need it. And I know they’re gonna bring it. We have the best fans in the world.”

The Celtics host the 76ers in Game 7 on Sunday at TD Garden.

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