Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics are playing Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday evening. This would be the second time in Tatum’s first seven seasons that he is in the Finals. He had also made NBA history by moving ahead of Hall of Famer, Kevin Granett during the first quarter for 40th on the all-time playoff points list. Following Garnett, the next player for Tatum to pass will be Hall of Famer (and another Celtics legend) Bill Russell (2,673).
Tatum is coming off another fantastic regular season where he made his fifth straight NBA All-Star Game. He averaged an excellent 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.0 steals per contest while shooting 47.1% from the field and 37.6% from the three-point range in 74 games. The Celtics were the first seed in the Eastern Conference and had the best record in the NBA (64-18). They beat the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers in the first three rounds of the NBA playoffs. He has helped lead the Celtics to the Eastern Conference finals in five of his first seven seasons.
However, the franchise has been unable to win a title since the 2008 season when Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo were still on the roster. Game 2 of the series will be on Sunday evening (also in Boston). The teams will then head to Dallas for Games 3 and 4.