Jayson Tatum posts first career 30-point NBA Finals game

Tatum, in his ninth NBA Finals game, finally broke the 30-point barrier on basketball’s biggest stage on Wednesday night.

[autotag]Jayson Tatum[/autotag] broke a personal barrier on Wednesday night. For the first time in his seven-year NBA career, the former Duke basketball star scored 30 points in an NBA Finals game.

Tatum and the Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-99 on Wednesday night, a third straight victory that moved them within one game of a championship. In the process, the former Blue Devil scored 31 points after he made 11 of his 26 attempts from the floor and all five of his free-throws.

Wednesday night was Tatum’s ninth game on the championship stage. He previously led the Celtics to a Finals appearance against the Golden State Warriors back in 2022, but superstar guard Steph Curry dispatched Boston in just six games.

Even still, Tatum finished with four 20-point games in that series. He scored 26 points in Game 3, 27 points in Game 5, and 28 points in Game 2 against the Warriors, but he never crossed the threshold he reached against the Mavericks.

So far in the 2024 championship series, Tatum is averaging 21.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 7.3 assists.

Tatum and the Celtics have a chance to clinch during Game 4 on Friday night.