Jaylen Brown offers a challenge to Celtics fans: bring the energy for game seven on Sunday night
For at least three quarters, it looked like Game 6 between the Celtics and 76ers on Thursday night was going to be one of the worst performances of Jayson Tatum's career -- one that he would have to live with for a long time.
The Celtics superstar, who was recently named to the All-NBA first team for the second straight year, shot 0-for-10 with one point in 21 minutes played during the first half. Boston then trailed by as much as five in the fourth quarter and it looked like a once-promising season was about to slip away and end in enormous frustration.
But Tatum finally rose to the challenge and scored 16 points in the fourth quarter, including four 3-point shots over the last 4:14 to propel the Celtics to a 95-86 win to force a Game 7 at TD Garden on Sunday.
It was a complete 180 from his performance through 36 minutes. Tatum also made NBA history with his impressive turnaround late in the game, as the tweet below explains:
Tatum outscored the Sixers 16-13 in the fourth quarter.
The Celtics need Tatum to start off games much better if they're going to win this series and potentially a championship this spring. He has missed 19 consecutive shots in the first quarter after going 0-for-5 in Game 6. A strong opening 12 minutes from Tatum in Game 7, which would get the crowd fired up in a major way, could give the Celtics the emotional lift they need to eliminate the Sixers and continue their quest for Banner 18.