With the shot clock winding down and overtime closing as the Celtics barely held on to a two-point lead, Jayson Tatum air-balled a 3-pointer, but didn’t quit on the play. Marcus Smart corralled the rebound, missed a shot, but there was Tatum, crashing the glass and tossing in the dagger tip-in.
As the Pacers called a timeout, the Celtics star jogged back towards his bench, closed his eyes and shook his head. The winning play encapsulated his night, but also the Celtics’ resolve in a wild 142-138 overtime victory that required it.
In their return from the All-Star break, Tatum — the All-Star Game MVP on Sunday — seemed to suffer from a All-Star hangover on a 9-for-25 shooting night for 31 points. The Celtics coughed up a 16-point first-half lead and another nine-point cushion in the fourth as they got all they could handle from the pesky Pacers, Myles Turner’s 40 points and All-Star Tyrese Haliburton’s 22 points and 14 assists. Turnovers mounted on a sloppy night. But the C’s found a way.
