Jayson Tatum

There have been hiccups, but together the Celtics' two biggest stars have been good enough to place Boston within two wins of an NBA title.

And then when Green and Brown became tangled late in the first half of that game, and Brown had had enough, Tatum ran over and grabbed him — even though Green already had one technical foul and was headed toward a disqualifying second. And that’s why the Warriors are in trouble. The only game the Celtics won was when Tatum dropped 50. The team now is vastly different, yes, but when it comes to prime offensive scorers, for the most part it was also Tatum and Brown, only Brown watched in street clothes, his wrist immobilized from surgery. Brown and Tatum only committed four turnovers between them Wednesday. Apparently, it was Marcus Smart’s turn to cough it up; he was saddled with five. Tatum was Boston’s “closer” last night, enabling the Celtics to withstand the Warriors’ third-quarter barrage with eight gritty points in the fourth. He has 85 turnovers for the postseason — nine more, and he’ll catch LeBron for the most ever in a single postseason. Brown took a 5-of-17 shooting in Game 2, as Green hounded him all over the floor. He scored 22 in the first half and 17 in the first quarter alone. The career-best 13 dimes were in Game 1, another Boston win, when he shot 3-of-17. In the Celtics’ 116-100 win in Game 3 Wednesday, Brown was the team’s leading scorer with 27 points. He has games of 13 and nine assists in this series, the latter coming in Game 3.

A pair of St. Louis natives showed each other love after Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday when Jayson Tatum and rapper Nelly met on the TD Garden ...

That performance earned him an Instagram shout-out from the rapper. "That's my guy," Tatum said. He's known my dad. "I've known Nelly forever. Him and my mom went to high school. The Celtics brought in rapper and St. Louis native Nelly to perform at halftime of Wednesday's game at TD Garden. C's star Jayson Tatum also hails from St. Louis and grew up a Nelly fan.

Jayson Tatum is naturally gifted and works on his game obsessively, but what distinguishes him is the self-confidence built in large part by a woman who ...

There was a joke they had when he was growing up, when he was so quiet, yet so focused, and the only one who believed in his greatness was his mother. He told her he was going to be a father. Kobe was everything to Tatum. He was 10 years old when Team USA went to Beijing for the 2008 Olympics, and Bryant was showing up with ice bags on his knees while the team was just sitting down for breakfast. He was the first one to put a basketball in Jayson's hands when he was a baby. And he had got a technical for dunking on somebody, hanging on the rim, and it was just really the ref kind of screwed him over, but they end up losing -- that's the point that matters. But it was just like they didn't want anything to do with me at the time." "I kept telling her even as a freshman, 'He's got to be an a--hole,'" Hanlen says, "And she was like, 'No, I want my baby to be a humble star.' By elementary school, when Jayson was telling people he was going to play in the NBA, it was kindly suggested he develop a backup plan. "I was sleeping in bed with my mom, 'cause we had one space heater, and we had to close the door." She collapsed from anemia while working at the photo counter at a Walgreens. She was in college by now, but still couldn't tell her mom at the hospital and asked a friend to do it. Eventually, he established a rapport with the family, and soon Tatum's mom, Brandy Cole, was texting Scheyer after Tatum's high school games, typing things such as, "He needs to f---ing rebound!" But he did his best to convince Krzyzewski and the rest of the staff that the 15-year-old wing was special.

After Boston took a definitive 2-1 series lead over the Warriors (+3.5 heading into the game) in the NBA Finals on Wednesday night, Deuce made sure to bump his ...

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Last season, Deuce took over the TD Garden court and made it his own. During the Eastern Conference Finals against the Heat this year, Grant Williams went for a fist bump from Tatum’s precocious young lad.

Beal couldn't help but smile when listening to a message from the Celtics star in which Tatum thanked Beal for all he's done for him during his career.

Beal and Tatum have played together on Team USA, and were both All-Stars in 2021. It’s funny, he talks about my AAU team, because he was a part of that … that speaks volumes of his character, and just who he is.” The two are both from St. Louis and attended the same high school, though not at the same time.

The path has not been easy for Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics. Before finishing 2nd in the East, and making a run to the NBA Finals, ...

Maybe I can’t be.’ But never losing faith, just believe in what you do, believe in the work that you put in, stay as close as you can with the group. Throughout the season, you get the new contract, you’re supposed to be the guy, and you look up and you’re three games under .500. It’s hard… That was tough, just thinking to myself, ‘Why is it now working?’ Putting in all the work and the effort.