The former Duke basketball superstar Jayson Tatum will head into the All-Star Break with a lot of momentum as the Boston Celtics star took over Thursday night against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Thursday night marked the final night of the ‘first half’ of the NBA season and basketball fans were treated to one of the best games of the year.
The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers, a potential NBA Finals preview, sent the NBA into the All-Star Break in fashion with the Celtics coming away with a 141-133 victory in double-overtime.
More from Ball Durham
- Duke basketball: The architect behind digital dominance
- Duke basketball prioritizing frontcourt prospects in 2025
- Duke basketball: Unmasking the hate for the Blue Devils
- Duke basketball: Countdown to Craziness lands another huge visitor
- Duke basketball fills final open scholarship
Boston was led by its youngest All-Star, Jayson Tatum, who went for 39 points in the victory in addition to nine rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block on 14-of-23 from the field, 5-of-10 from 3-point range, and 6-of-10 from the free throw line.
Tatum was coming off of a rare off-game in which he scored just 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting on Tuesday night against the Houston Rockets.
The former No. 3 overall pick is averaging 22.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game on 43.9 percent shooting from the field and 37.8 percent from 3-point range as the former Blue Devil will head to Chicago for NBA All-Star Weekend.
Jayson Tatum will try and defend his title in the NBA Skills Competition on Saturday night and then will compete in his first NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night for Team LeBron.
ALSO READ: Jayson Tatum selected to Team Lebron, Brandon Ingram on Team Giannis
The Boston Celtics currently have a 38-16 record, third in the Eastern Conference, and trail the Toronto Raptors by one and a half games for second place in the East and are eight games behind the Milwaukee Bucks for the top spot in the conference.
NBA All-Star Saturday Night begins at 8:00pm EST with the Skills Competition, as Tatum is the only former Blue Devil in competition on the evening, and the All-Star Game begins at 8:00pm EST on Sunday with both events broadcasted on TNT.