Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum's hot start to the 2022-23 NBA season has been historically good.
Literally.
The Celtics record for the most points scored by one player in the first three games of a single season was 96, set by Larry Bird during his MVP-winning 1984-85 campaign.
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Bird no longer holds that record. It now belongs to Tatum.
The 24-year-old forward needed 33 points in Saturday night's road game against the Orlando Magic to break Bird's mark. He got off to a great start with 21 first-half points and finished with 40 as the Celtics earned a 126-120 win to improve to 3-0 on the season.
Tatum could threaten to break a few other Celtics scoring records before the season is over.
The team record for most points in a season is 2,338 by John Havlicek in 1970-71. Tatum scored 2,046 last season. The C's single-season record for most points per game is 29.9 set by Bird in 1987-88. The closest anyone has come to matching that record was Isaiah Thomas, who scored 28.9 per game in 2016-17.
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Tatum is averaging 34.6 points through three games. The Celtics have a lot of offensive talent on their roster, so it's going to be difficult for one player to average 30-plus points for an entire campaign. But even if Tatum doesn't reach that level, he could easily surpass his career high of 26.9 points per game set last season.
