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Brotherhood Playoff Watch: Jayson Tatum And The Boston Celtics Have A Huge Game Monday Night

2022 NBA Finals Practice and Media Availability
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 12: Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics shoots during 2022 NBA Finals Practice and Media Availability on June 12, 2022 at Chase Center in San Francisco, California.
Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

The Boston Celtics had a golden opportunity to go up 3-1 in the 2022 NBA Finals but Stephen Curry showed why he is one of the all-time greats with a 43 point outburst Friday night.

Former Duke star Jayson Tatum has been widely hailed as a rising superstar and getting to the Finals to an extent validates that.

But winning a title puts you on a different level and Tatum is hearing criticisms that he’s not ready for that step.

And some guys never get there. Reggie Miller was a brilliant player for the Indiana Pacers and clearly had a huge clutch instinct.

Never got there.

Patrick Ewing never got there. Neither did Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Chris Mullin, Alan Iverson, Pete Maravich or Elgin Baylor (in a cruel twist, Baylor retired just a few games into the 1971-72 season and as soon as he did, the Lakers went on a record 33-game win streak and won the championship. Go figure).

Tatum is young and so is the core of the Celtics. His job right now is to not worry about things like that and just play at his considerable best. And unlike Baylor, he’ll probably have other shots if Boston does fall short this season.

Game Five is Monday night at 9:00 on ABC.