Coach Stevens, Marcus Smart weigh in on Jayson Tatum’s 50-point postseason masterpiece

At times, they struggled for the words to encapsulate the performance.

After an instant classic of a performance against the mighty Brooklyn Nets in Game 3 of his Boston Celtics’ first-round series against their Atlantic Division opponents, All-NBA small forward Jayson Tatum inched closer to cementing his status among the league’s superstars with a 50-point outing on Friday night.

Putting his team on his back, the Duke product refused to let go of the rope in a must-win postseason situation. Tatum attacked the cup with merciless, almost unstoppable force while peppering his assault with an array of difficult jumpers, often with a hand in his face — or several of them.

“The way he was locked in … his mentality [was] attack, attack, attack, and just keep going no matter what the outcome was,” shared teammate Marcus Smart when asked by the press what impressed him the most about the star wing’s big game.