Jayson Tatum

Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum speaks out on how important and meaningful it is for him to play on Christmas Day.

It’s always fun, the energy and the excitement around the day and just all the games in general.” It goes without saying, however, that Tatum enters these marquee matchups with the objective of coming away with the win. For his part, Tatum is just living in the moment as he soaks up the significance of these Holiday games:

This year's marquee Christmas Day matchup pitted two NBA MVP candidates against each other as Jayson Tatum's Boston Celtics welcomed Giannis Antetokounmpo ...

Tatum made a statement with his performance, establishing the Celtics as the clear top team in the Eastern Conference. He scored 20 points in the third quarter alone on Sunday, and he added seven rebounds, five assists and three steals to stuff the stat sheet. He out-dueled Antetokounmpo, who finished with 27 points but struggled to find a rhythm, shooting 9-of-22 from the field.

It was a full-blown Christmas party at the Garden as Jayson Tatum dropped 41 on Giannis and the Bucks in a big Celtics win.

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, 139-118, on Christmas Day at TD Garden. The Celtics improved to 24-10 while the Bucks fell to ...

The Celtics will be back at TD Garden on Tuesday, welcoming the Houston Rockets to town for the first time in 2022. He also added six points and three rebounds on the afternoon. He also filled up the box score with seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. The Bucks, however, struggled mightily, with Antetokounmpo settling for shots outside of the paint early and often. Antetokounmpo hit a few shots, but an offensive explosion from Jaylen Brown was enough to essentially seal the game for Boston. The Celtics came out hot, connecting on four of their first five shots from range.

The sea parted for Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum as he cut into the paint, only for his opening to disappear in a split second as Giannis Antetokounmpo ...

To make matters worse, Los Angeles has four games remaining on a five-game trip as Davis remains out indefinitely, raising the possibility that James and company will miss the playoffs for a second straight year. Tatum posted a game-high 41 points, including a 20-point burst in the third quarter that put Boston comfortably in command, to go with seven rebounds and five assists. Naturally, the 44-year-old Nowitzki, who is eligible for Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame induction in 2023, was depicted shooting one of his patented one-legged fadeaway jumpers. The sea parted for Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum as he cut into the paint, only for his opening to disappear in a split second as Giannis Antetokounmpo rotated to the front of the rim. “We left it in the locker room at halftime. Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, who finished with 23 points and 11 assists, left the contest in the fourth quarter with an apparent hip injury. Sunday’s second contest saw Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks follow the 76ers’ lead by launching a massive second-half comeback against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. “I was going to attack the rim,” Tatum said during a postgame interview. The 76ers have won eight straight to climb into the Eastern Conference’s fifth seed. In addition to Embiid’s punishing play inside and Harden’s controlled orchestration, the 76ers got nine combined three-pointers from De’Anthony Melton and Georges Niang. The two-time MVP finished with 27 points, nine rebounds and three assists as the Bucks were outshot and outworked by their conference rivals. Tatum barely adjusted to Antetokounmpo’s sudden emergence, angling just a bit to the right as he finished a poster dunk over a two-handed contesting effort by the Milwaukee Bucks big man.

On paper, this was the most compelling game on the NBA calendar: a 1-2 matchup, a possible (probable?) conference finals preview with a pair of MVP candidates ...

On paper, this was the most compelling game on the NBA calendar: a 1-2 matchup, a possible (probable?) conference finals preview with a pair of MVP candidates in Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo going head-to-head. Milwaukee’s offense has sputtered without Middleton, tumbling from third in efficiency last season to 17th in this one. After missing all of last season’s conference semifinals with a knee injury, Middleton was in street clothes again on Sunday, still healing from another lower leg injury. He leads the NBA in real plus/minus, per ESPN. The defense, at full strength since the return of Robert Williams, limited Antetokounmpo to 27 points on 9-of-22 shooting. Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who have put up more total points this season than any in the NBA, combined for 70.

The Boston Celtics got a huge win on Christmas Day against the Miwaukee Bucks and it was none other than Jayson Tatum who led the way.

In comparison, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 27 points of his own, but he only shot 40.9 percent from the field, 1-5 from the three-point line, and 8-12 from the the free-throw line. Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 41 points on 63.6 percent shooting, shot 3-7 from the three-point line, and went a perfect 10-10 from the free-throw line. The Boston Celtics got a huge win on Christmas Day against the Miwaukee Bucks and it was none other than Jayson Tatum who led the way.

Star scored 20 of his 41 points in the third quarter to help Boston take matchup of the top two teams in the NBA.

… Connaughton, a native of nearby Arlington, Massachusetts, made his first start of the season and scored 15. The teams met in the second round of last year’s Eastern Conference playoffs, and the Celtics won in seven games en route to the NBA Finals. … Derrick White hit a 3-pointer in the third quarter. He also missed the first 20 games of the season. … The Celtics made five of their first six 3-point attempts. The NBA season is a long season, and we will be a much better basketball team by the end of this year than we are right now,” he said. Their lead was down to one point, 62-61, before Bobby Portis fouled Brown on a desperation 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer. Tatum scored 20 in the third quarter, when the Celtics turned a one-point lead into a 100-86 edge. After some jawing back and forth, Antetokounmpo was given a technical foul and went to the bench. Last Christmas in Milwaukee, the Bucks beat Boston 117-113. The Celtics have also struggled lately, losing five of six before winning back-to-back games. Asked about his team’s ability to limit the damage done by Antetokounmpo, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said, “Limiting’s crazy.

The Celtics and Bucks are quickly becoming one of the best rivalries in the East.

In the midst of it, it’s just fun competing on a stage like this.” The hope around the league is that both teams will be healthy and at full strength come the playoffs, and that they meet in the East Finals. Bucks playoff series could be in the works as each team is looking to get back to the Finals. [The Celtics got the better of the Bucks 139-118 on Christmas ](https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2022/12/four-takeaways-as-celtics-beat-bucks-139-118-on-christmas-jayson-tatum-scores-42-points.html)at TD Garden in the first time the teams met this season. [Every time the Celtics and Bucks meet in the near future](https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2022/12/celtics-jayson-tatum-talks-playing-bucks-giannis-antetokounmpo-on-christmas-day.html), the game’s going to automatically upgrade to a high-stakes night. The basketball on the court is physical and fierce, but there’s a healthy respect off the court.

Jayson Tatum scored 41 points for host Boston on Sunday to help the Celtics beat Milwaukee 139-118 in a matchup of the top two teams in the NBA.

The teams met in the second round of last year’s Eastern Conference playoffs, and the Celtics won in seven games en route to the NBA Finals. “Obviously, we lost to them last year in the playoffs and we’ve had battles with them since I’ve gotten to Milwaukee,” said Bucks guard Pat Connaughton. The NBA season is a long season, and we will be a much better basketball team by the end of this year than we are right now. After some jawing back and forth, Antetokounmpo was given a technical foul and went to the bench. Tatum scored 20 in the third quarter, when the Celtics turned a one-point lead into a 100-86 edge. He’s a great player and you’ve got to be disciplined against him.”

Jayson Tatum posted his fifth straight 30-point game, leading the Boston Celtics with 41 en route to a 139-118 Christmas Day win over the visiting Milwaukee ...

James went on to finish with 38 points, six rebounds and five assists. Julius Randle led the Knicks with 35 points and eight rebounds while Jalen Brunson added 23 points and 11 assists. Tatum added seven rebounds, five assists and three steals as Boston won back-to-back games.

The Celtics defeated the Bucks 139-118 behind 41 points from Jayson Tatum on Christmas Day in a showdown between contenders in the EAst.

“He only took four shots and I thought he was one of the more impactful players on the floor because of his poise and his ability to see the floor,” Mazzulla said. Similar tonight, playing against a better team in Milwaukee and playing the game, staying with the game, always constantly focusing on what’s in front of you. Brown had a strange game — he scorched his way to 13 first-quarter points, including 3-for-3 shooting from behind the arc, then scored three points on 1-for-4 shooting in the second and third periods. Then, in the fourth, he scored 13 points again on 5-for-7 shooting and effectively put the game on ice. As Antetokounmpo tried to navigate around Brown, he hit the deck, and when he stood up, he appeared to hit Brown with an elbow. “As a kid, that was part of the tradition. The Celtics consistently manage to keep Antetokounmpo away from the hoop, and Sunday was no exception — just eight of Antetokounmpo’s 22 shots were inside the paint, and he was 2-for-8 on those shots. Jaylen Brown and Antetokounmpo got into a brief altercation in the second half. When asked by a reporter after the game, Tatum said he doesn’t usually think about his place in Celtics history, largely because Celtics history is so decorated with great players and big moments. That helped the Celtics win the quarter by 13 points and build a double-digit lead going into the fourth. That advantage ballooned to 19 late in the fourth behind a big quarter by Jaylen Brown, and both teams emptied their benches for the final minutes. The Celtics (who are now 24-10) will play the majority of their regular-season games between now and May 11.

Jayson Tatum threw down a sublime dunk over Giannis Antetokounmpo on Christmas Day, and there's a terrific photo to prove it.

Antetokounmpo stands at 7 feet and has four straight All-Defensive First-Team nods to his name, but Tatum had no problem summiting Mount Giannis on Christmas Day. Midway through the second quarter of the Celtics' Christmas Day game against the Milwaukee Bucks at TD Garden, Tatum unleashed a monstrous dunk on Giannis Antetokounmpo off a nice feed from And in case you're looking for that poster, the Celtics shared an awesome photo of the play on social media.

Jayson Tatum dunked on Giannis Antetokounmpo during Sunday's game between the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics.

In 2021, the Bucks won the NBA Championship, while the Celtics lost in the NBA Finals in 2022. The Bucks are currently 22-10 in 32 games, while the Celtics are 23-10 in 33 games. Last season, the Celtics beat the Bucks in the second round of the NBA Playoffs (in seven games).