Jayson Tatum’s improvement bodes well for Boston Celtics in Game 4 against Philadelphia 76ers

PHILADELPHIA – Jayson Tatum has been back on the court for only around seven weeks but the Boston Celtics star is making a stellar impact.

While putting last May’s devastating ruptured right Achilles tendon further in the rearview mirror, Tatum’s comeback story is reading superbly.

He will look to help Boston take a 3-1 series lead when they visit the Philadelphia 76ers on April 26 (April 27, Singapore time) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) Eastern Conference first-round, play-offs.

Tatum drained five three-pointers and recorded 25 points, seven assists and five rebounds as the Celtics notched a 108-100 road win on April 24. It was his second 25-point outing of the series.

Tatum did not make his season debut until March 6 but quickly displayed he would be an asset in the play-offs.

He finished the regular season with seven straight appearances of 23 or more points. He delivered one triple-double and four other double-doubles during the stretch to establish he would be a difference-maker in the post-season.

Also on April 24, Tatum became the fourth player in Celtics history to top 3,000 career post-season points. Tatum (3,005) trails three legends – Kevin McHale (3,182), John Havlicek (3,776) and leader Larry Bird (3,897).

“I can’t stress it enough that the fact that I get to put my uniform on and run out with the team, it’s a win for me,” Tatum said. “Obviously, I’m not 100 per cent yet and will not be, but expectations of what people want me to do is the last thing that has crossed my mind.

“The amount of joy I have been able to find just being back out there and being out there with my teammates is all I could think about.”

Co-star Jaylen Brown, who carried the team while Tatum was sidelined, is impressed with Tatum’s progress.

“He’s been incrementally getting better and stronger and getting more physical,” said Brown, who also scored 25 points in Game 3.

“You can see he’s getting downhill at a higher level than he did when he started. But we do it as a team. We win as a team and lose as a team. So in those moments, I got nothing but trust for Jayson Tatum.”

The April 26 contest is a big one for the 76ers to prevent a possible Game 5 elimination game in Boston.

What would really help is if star centre Joel Embiid is available, but the team listed the former Most Valuable Player as doubtful on their April 25 injury report.

Embiid underwent an appendectomy on April 9. He was also listed as doubtful for the April 24 game before being ruled out.

Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse said that Embiid did on-court work on April 25 and will be evaluated after the April 26 shoot-around.

Forward Kelly Oubre Jr (right adductor) is questionable.

Philadelphia star guard Tyrese Maxey scored 31 points in the Game 3 setback and made five threes for the second straight game. He felt the game got away from his squad.

“We always focus on what you could do better,” Maxey said. “Got to get one (more win on April 26), got to protect home court and even the series.”

Maxey is averaging 27.0 points and 7.7 assists in the series.

The 76ers allowed more threes (20) than two-point baskets (16) in Game 3, and Nurse said his team needs to make things tougher for Boston from outside the arc.

“They had five made off offensive rebounds and that’s not good, right?” Nurse said. “They made a lot of tough ones... We’re going to have to be a lot better. It has to start with pressure.”

In NBA action on April 25, Ayo Dosunmu came off the bench to score a career-high 43 points on 13-for-17 shooting as the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves pulled away for a 112-96 win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 4 of their Western Conference series in Minneapolis.

“Ayo was just out of this world,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “Just play after play after play.”

The victory, which gave Minnesota a 3-1 lead, came at a cost to the Timberwolves, who lost two starters – Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo – due to injury.

Eastern Conference top seeds Detroit fell 2-1 down to the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic, who fended off a late Pistons rally to secure a stirring 113-105 home victory.

The New York Knicks, seeded third in the East, re-asserted their authority with a 114-98 victory over the Hawks in Atlanta to tie the series at 2-2.

In Phoenix, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a playoff-career-high 42 points to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 121-109 road win over the Suns and a 3-0 series lead in the West. REUTERS, AFP