Tatum reacts to a buzzer-beating shot to beat Raptors in overtime originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Toronto Raptors put up a lot of fight in Saturday night’s game at TD Garden, but the Boston Celtics finally emerged victorious 126-123 in overtime thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-point shot by Jayson Tatum.
The last play looked like it was designed for Jaylen Brown, but he was knocked to the floor before he could get the ball, so Tatum stepped up and took the shot. After missing a potential buzzer-beater in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, Tatum took advantage of the opportunity in overtime to end the game.
His buzzer-beater sent the Garden crowd into a frenzy as the C’s improved to 11-3 on the season.
“Man, I missed so many shots in the second half, I had to hit one,” Tatum told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin after the game, as seen in the video player above. “We had some options (on the last play). Live catch, we got the scrimmage, JB got run over and I thought they were going to call a foul. I had to make a play.”
The Raptors were playing the second game of a back-to-back and were without four quality players — Scottie Barnes, Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk and Immanuel Quickley — due to injuries. And yet the Raptors led throughout the second half and outscored the C’s 76-42 in the paint. Toronto has now lost seven straight games and sits at the bottom of the NBA with a 2-12 record, but this team is not giving up.
“It’s not going to be perfect. It’s not going to be what we expect. They don’t have superstars or whatever you want to call it, but they play hard. They’re well coached. They play together, they play fast. , and they put pressure on us .”
Tatum didn’t just hit the game-winning 3-pointer. He made a strong impact in other areas as well, leading the Celtics with 11 rebounds and nine assists in 42 minutes.
“Joe always challenges me to dominate, no matter what that looks like,” Tatum said. “It can look different on any given night. Shots aren’t always going to fall, but are you affecting the game, are you affecting your teammates? That’s what I’m trying to do.”
Tatum made the final shot, but that win for the Celtics was a total team effort. All five starters scored in double figures, while the bench also chipped in 22 points.
“Basketball is a team sport. We don’t win that championship last year without every single player on our team,” Tatum said. “What we’re trying to do this year is even harder. We need everyone every night, whenever their number is called.”
The next one for the Celtics is highly anticipated NBA Cup group stage match against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who lead the Eastern Conference standings with a 14-0 record.
