For the fifth time in his NBA career, Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics reached the half-century mark in total points in in one game, On Sunday, Tatum scored 51 points as the Celtics defeated the Washington Wizards 116-87.
The most points Tatum has had in one game was 60. That came in a 143-140 Celtics overtime win over the San Antonio Spurs on April 30, 2021. Tatum also had 53 points in a 145-136 overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on April 9, 2021, 50 points in a 118-100 Celtics win over the Wizards in the 2021 NBA Eastern Conference Play-in game, and 50 points in a 125-119 Celtics win over the Brooklyn Nets in game three of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
In the Celtics win over the Spurs last season, Tatum tied a Celtics record with Larry Bird for most points in one game by a Celtics player. In the Celtics win over the Timberwolves, Tatum became the youngest Celtics player to record 50 points in one game at 23 years and 37 days old.
In Sunday’s win, Tatum made 18 of 28 field goals, nine of 14 three-point attempts, and all six free throw attempts. He also had 10 rebounds, seven assists and was a +31. Tatum becomes the second Celtics player to get 50 points in a game this season. The other was Jaylen Brown, who had 50 points in a 116-111 Celtics overtime win over the Orlando Magic on January 2. The other players to reach the 50-point plateau in 2021-22 are Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks, Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, and Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers.
