Jayson Tatum put on a show for the Boston Celtics in Tuesday's play-in victory over the Washington Wizards.
The 23-year-old dropped 50 points -- 32 in the second half -- to propel the C's to the NBA playoffs. It marked Tatum's third 50-point performance of the 2020-21 season.
Celtics-Wizards takeaways: Tatum makes a statement with dominant performance
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SIGN UP HERE Wizards head coach Scott Brooks could do nothing but tip his cap to Tatum after the game. He had some big praise for the two-time All-Star during his press conference.
"He's a great player. He's not a great young player, he's a great player. He's gonna be an MVP in this league soon," Brooks said.
Tatum's teammate, Kemba Walker, agrees with Brooks' statement.
"He's right about that," Walker said after the game about Brooks' MVP comment. "Jayson was special, man. He was unbelievable. It ain’t new to me."
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It's hard to argue against Tatum ascending toward MVP candidacy. At 23, he's already among the elite scorers in the game. He averaged a career-high 26.4 points per game during the regular season and all signs point toward him taking another leap next year.
Before that, however, the focus will be on the Celtics' upcoming playoff series vs. the No. 2 seed Brooklyn Nets. Tatum will need to duplicate his play-in game efforts on a consistent basis if Boston is to pull off the upset.
The series begins Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.
