Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum was a first-team All-NBA player for the first time in his career last season, and he's carried that momentum into the 2022-23 campaign as a legitimate MVP candidate.
Tatum scored 31 points on 10-of-20 shooting (5-of-11 from 3-point range), along with five assists and one block in 32 minutes of playing time Wednesday night as the Celtics cruised to a 128-112 win over the Detroit Pistons at TD Garden to improve to 8-3 on the season.
Forsberg: Defense could be key to Jayson Tatum's MVP chances
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More than half of Tatum's points -- 16, to be exact -- came in the first 5:05 of the third quarter. It was a dominant stretch that showed off many of the skills in Tatum's repertoire.
Check out every basket from his 16-point explosion in the video below:
Tatum is sixth in the league in scoring at 31.2 points per game. He's one of seven players averaging 30-plus points. He's also shooting a career-high 49.8 percent from the field and tallying a career-high 1.5 blocks per game.
But perhaps the most impressive improvement from Tatum is his increased free throw attempts. Tatum is averaging 8.7 free throws per game -- 2.5 more than his previous career high set last season. The best offensive players often live at the free throw line, and Tatum has been ascending to that level over the last month.
