Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is the only Larry Bird for most 45-point games in franchise history. Bird has scored at least 45 points in 19 games over his 13-year career. Tatum has a total of five.
Paul Pearce was third with four 45 points. In 21 starts this season, the three-time All-Star has posted three 40-point careers.
At a few NBA betting sites, Jayson Tatum has the second-best odds to win the MVP in 2023. Some sportsbooks have Dallas Mavericks guard Luca Donchi as the top favorite to win the award.
Tatum tonight:
49 PTS
11 REB
8-12 3 p.m
+29Only Larry Bird has as many 45-point games with the Celtics. pic.twitter.com/Nji0QiCLJr
— StatMuse (@statmuse) December 1, 2022
Jayson Tatum scored a season-high 49 points in 43 minutes as the Celtics beat the Miami Heat 134-121 at TD Garden on Wednesday night. While not quite the top performer, it was still one of the wing’s best of his NBA career.
Last season, the 24-year-old had two regular season games with at least 45 points. In the second game of the 2022 NBA playoffs, the forward scored 46 points in Game 6 of the Celtics’ 108-95 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Jayson Tatum is second behind Larry Bird for most 45-point games in Celtics franchise history.
Tatum also scored 580 points in 20 games this season, the most by a Boston player in Blast history. In Larry Bird’s first 20 games of the 1984-85 season, the legend scored 575 points.
During the 2020–21 season, Tatum finished with 53 points on April 9th against the Minnesota Timberwolves and a career-high 60 points against the San Antonio Spurs on April 30th.
January 4, 2021 Jayson Tatum posted his third career 40-point game before turning 23 in the Celtics’ 126-114 win over the Toronto Raptors.
Most points scored by a Boston Celtics player in the first 20 games of a season:
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1. Jayson Tatum (580, 2022-23)*
2. Larry Bird (575, 1984-85)
3. John Havlik (571, 1970-71)
4. Paul Pierce (535, 2001-02)
5. Paul Pierce (532, 2005-06)
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*The Celtics have only played 19 games this year. pic.twitter.com/zNT2vKbbjy— Dan Kelly (@DanKelley66) November 26, 2022
The Duke product also finished with nine 30-point games in November. Only Larry Bird (10 in March 1986, 11 March 1988) has more 30-point games in a calendar month in Celtics history.
In 21 starts this season, Jayson Tatum is averaging career highs of 31.6 points, 4.5 assists and 1.1 blocks per game. In addition to averaging 7.8 boards, the wing is shooting 48.8% from the field and 36.6% from three-point range.
Bird averaged a franchise career-high 29.9 points during the 1987-88 season with the Celtics. But the three-time MVP also played in a very difficult era of basketball.
