Duke Basketball Product Jayson Tatum Helps Celtics Avoid Embarrassment

 

Former Duke basketball star Jayson Tatum had to get creative against the historically lowly Pistons.

The Detroit Pistons (2-29) appeared to be on the path to snapping their single-season league record streak of 27 losses in Thursday night’s road game against the NBA-leading Boston Celtics (24-6) and their 25-year-old centerpiece in 2016-17 Duke basketball one-and-done and former No. 3 overall draft pick Jayson Tatum.

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Detroit held a 66-47 halftime lead. Despite allowing Boston to erase that deficit in the third quarter, the Pistons forced overtime. But they fell, 128-122, matching the Philadelphia 76ers, who lost 28 straight between the late portion of their 2014-15 slate and early going in 2015-16, for the longest overall losing streak in NBA history.

Fortunately for the Celtics (15-0 at home this season), Tatum was notably determined to manufacture consistent buckets in orchestrating the critical third quarter comeback,. He did so by any level of difficulty necessary, evident in this highlight:

but HOW JT?!?! pic.twitter.com/THQoLITbRm

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) December 29, 2023

Furthermore, if not for Tatum’s clutch scores late in the fourth, not to mention his 80-foot dime with 45 ticks remaining in overtime, Kristaps Porzingis might not have gotten the chance to power Boston to the victory across the extra five minutes.

Jayson Tatum ➡️ Kristaps Porziņģis 💥 pic.twitter.com/6s92SVLIf3

— NBA TV (@NBATV) December 29, 2023

And the Celtics would have gone down as the squad that allowed the Pistons to prevent another humiliating entry in the history books.

Jayson Tatum tallied 31 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists, five steals, and three turnovers in his 43 minutes on the floor. Not bad. However, the sure-to-be fifth-time All-Star has enjoyed better shooting nights, as he finished 11-for-31 from the field, 2-for-11 from downtown, and 7-for-8 at the line.

As for the Pistons’ 2017-18 Duke basketball one-and-done, Marvin Bagley III has missed the past two contests with a back sprain.

So, the 24-year-old big man and former No. 2 overall draft pick, averaging 10.5 points and 4.8 rebounds this season, could say he wasn’t responsible for Detroit’s Tuesday night home loss to the Brooklyn Nets that broke the single-season record or the Wednesday night heartache in Boston that tied the overall mark.