Jayson Tatum, Aaron Nesmith power C’s in historic comeback win

Early in their game against the San Antonio Spurs, it looked like the Boston Celtics were en route to a crushing defeat. After all, they had just 48 first-half points while the Spurs logged 77.

But in the second half and overtime, the C’s pushed back and outscored the Spurs 95-63. That helped the team to erase what was once a 32-point deficit and earn a stunning victory.

As Brian Scalabrine said after the game, “This went from the worst game of the year to the best game of the year.” In essence, the game was a quintessentially 2020-21 Celtics experience.

While the C’s effort wasn’t pretty early, they stepped it up late and earned a much-needed win that pushed them to 34-30. That win could prove to be key in the Eastern Conference playoff race and it’s encouraging that they never quit on the game and continued to fight to make the comeback. 

Here are the top takeaways from the Celtics’ win over the Spurs.

Jayson Tatum had a signature superstar performance

Superstar Jayson Tatum has arrived. We’ve seen him reach the pinnacle a couple of times this season, but on Friday night, he had the best game of his career at a time when the Celtics desperately needed it.

Early in the game, the C’s weren’t able to do anything on offense — except for Tatum. In the first quarter, they were outscored 39-16 by the Spurs, and of those 16 points, Tatum scored 14.

Putting the team on his back

Tatum’s first quarter points

14

At no point did Tatum cool down. He was willing to carry the Celtics throughout the night. He made 20-of-37 shots from the field. He drove to the hoop frequently and got 17 free-throw attempts during the game. He made 15 of them.

And when the game was on the line, Tatum was able to make difficult, clutch shots like this go-ahead two-point fade away in the final minute of overtime that gave the C’s a one-point lead late.

Tatum truly was phenomenal and the Celtics needed every single one of his points to emerge with the win on Friday night. He’s now the only Celtic to ever score 50+ points in two games during a single season.

He also is just the second C’s player to log 60 points in a single game. The other one? Larry Bird. Needless to say, that’s some pretty great company to keep.

Jayson Tatum talks about his 60 point game Aaron Nesmith is becoming a key player for the Celtics

Against the Charlotte Hornets, Nesmith had what was arguably his best game of the season.

Just one game later, he may have already one-upped that. If not, he has put together back-to-back excellent performances and has certainly earned a bigger role in the Celtics’ rotation.

Nesmith played 30 minutes for the C’s on Friday night against the Spurs and he finished third on the team in scoring with 16 points. He went 7-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-3 from behind the arc, and he continued to put forth a strong effort on the glass (six rebounds).

Beyond his solid counting stats, Nesmith’s effort was on display. He plays hard on every possession and is reminiscent, in some ways, of Marcus Smart in the way that he instinctively makes hustle plays and looks to outwork his opponents. As long as he keeps doing that and bringing energy to the floor for the C’s, he will continue to earn more minutes.

Speaking of minutes, it’s telling that the mostly-healthy C’s were willing to give Nesmith the fourth-most time on the court behind only Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Smart.

Player Minutes Jayson Tatum 45 Jaylen Brown 44 Marcus Smart 44 Aaron Nesmith 30

That just goes to show how much faith that coach Brad Stevens has in the 14th-overall pick from the 2020 NBA Draft at this point in the season. As long as his effort is consistent, his playing time should be as well.

Celtics set many team, NBA records in win

It really was a record-breaking night for the Celtics. Here’s a brief roundup of the records that the team broke and tied.

The 32-point comeback is officially the largest comeback in Celtics history. Previously, their largest come-from-behind win came against the Orlando Magic in 2012 when they erased a 27-point deficit to earn a victory.

Additionally, the Celtics’ 32-point comeback is the third-largest in NBA history and is the second-largest of the last 20 NBA seasons. The Sacramento Kings had a 35-point comeback in 2009.

Jayson Tatum tied the Celtics single-game scoring record of 60 points. Larry Bird is the only other player to reach those heights, doing so in 1985.

Perhaps even more impressively, Tatum became the third player in NBA history to record 60 points without committing a turnover. The other two are Carmelo Anthony (2014) and Klay Thompson (2016).

This night will live in the Celtics and NBA record books for quite a long time, and it’s fair to wonder how long the 32-point comeback will stand as the largest in Celtics history.

The Celtics made up needed ground in the playoff race

The Atlanta Hawks were taking on the Philadelphia 76ers, a tough matchup for them, on Friday night. But early, it looked like the C’s were going to squander a potential opportunity to make up ground on them in the Eastern Conference standings.

They ultimately didn’t. The Hawks cooperated and lost to the Sixers while the C’s comeback assured that they are now tied with Atlanta for the Eastern Conference’s No. 5 seed. They also gained half a game on the Miami Heat and avoided dropping into the No. 7 seed, which would have happened had they lost.

Right now, this is what the race to avoid the NBA play-in tournament looks like.

Seed Team Record GB 4 Knicks 35-28 — 5 Hawks 34-30 1.5 6 Celtics 34-30 1.5 7 Heat 33-30 2

The C’s desperately want to move into the No. 5 seed to avoid a potential first-round matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks (No. 3 seed) or the play-in tournament. Their win over the Spurs is a step in the right direction toward that goal, as the Hawks have been reeling recently without Trae Young (three straight losses).

We’ll see if this massive comeback can be a turning point for the C’s. But needless to say, the win was arguably their most crucial one of the season to date. They’ll try to keep momentum in their favor on Sunday night against the Portland Trail Blazers.