Jayson Tatum scores career-high 60 points as Celtics complete third-biggest comeback in NBA history vs. Spurs

By the second quarter of Friday’s game between the Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs, the matchup appeared to be a by-the-numbers blowout. San Antonio led by a staggering 32 points at 67-35, and most teams would have packed it in from there. The Celtics did not. 

By halftime, the lead was trimmed to 29. Then Boston won the third quarter 42-26 for a 16-point deficit. At that point, the lead was down to just 13. Boston made up the rest of it in a 38-25 fourth quarter to send the game to overtime. Jayson Tatum took care of the rest in a dominant overtime period, and Boston completed the comeback, 143-140. 

Tatum was dominant throughout, of course. He reached 50 points by the end of regulation and then got up to 60 in overtime. That is a new career-high for Tatum, who set his previous high of 53 points earlier this season. Of course, Tatum didn’t just set his own career high. He tied Boston’s franchise high of 60, previously set by Larry Bird in 1985 and became the second-youngest player ever to score 60 in a game, trailing Devin Booker. He is the first player in Celtics history to score at least 50 points twice in a single season. 

The record books will remember this as the third-biggest comeback in NBA history. The record is a 36-point comeback by the Utah Jazz over the Denver Nuggets in 1996. In 2009, the Sacramento Kings overcame a 35-point deficit to stun the Chicago Bulls. Now, the Celtics join that illustrious group. The 29-point halftime deficit is also the second-biggest that any team has overcome in the final two periods.

But more importantly, this win in conjunction with Atlanta’s loss tied the Celtics with the Atlanta Hawks for the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics are now 11-5 in their past 16 games and starting to look like the team that nearly won the Eastern Conference last season again. They have Tatum to thank for that. He hasn’t been quite himself for most of this season due to an early bout with COVID-19. Tatum has even revealed that he has to use an inhaler before games. But he has steadily improved throughout the season, and now, he looks like the superstar he truly is again. If Tatum is this good in the playoffs, the sky is the limit for Boston.