The Boston Celtics are a storied franchise with no shortage of history, and this regular season Jayson Tatum added his own chapter. The four-time All-Star became the first player in franchise history to average 30 points per game in a season, something Paul Pierce, Larry Bird, and other Hall of Fame Celtics never even achieved.
Jayson Tatum is the ONLY Celtic in franchise history to average 30 PPG in the regular season pic.twitter.com/HJp12jtwLR
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 9, 2023
The 25-year-old also led the NBA in total points scored, as he amassed a whopping 2,225 points in 74 games. While his 30.1 points per game is just the sixth-highest average in the league this year, no other Celtic has ever even surpassed the 30-point mark. Prior to Tatum, the legendary Bird was the closest during the 1987-88 season with a stellar 29.9 points per outing.
With the 2022-23 regular season officially over, Tatum took to Twitter to comment on his historic accomplishment:
Now this is something… https://t.co/nd4CKUCXJv
— Jayson Tatum (@jaytatum0) April 9, 2023
The regular season wasn’t just a success for Tatum though, as the Celtics themselves had an impressive showing. The C’s went 57-25 and earned the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, which is especially remarkable given that they had a completely new head coach this year.
Most regular-season wins by a rookie head coach in Celtics history:
1. Bill Russell – 60
2. Joe Mazzulla – 57 pic.twitter.com/ehTlVA3yux
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) April 9, 2023
And although Tatum and most of Boston’s stars didn’t play in the finale, the Green Team closed out the regular season in historic fashion. Point guard Payton Pritchard notched a triple-double and posted a unique stat line that puts him in elite company:
Here you go….
BOSTON CELTICS HISTORY
30 POINTS – 13 REBOUNDS – 11 ASSISTS
Larry Bird
John Havlicek
Payton Pritchard
— Sean Grande (@SeanGrandePBP) April 9, 2023
While all these feats are notable, the ultimate goal for the Celtics is to bring home an elusive 18th championship. If Tatum can lead Boston to its first NBA title in 15 years it’d be the perfect storybook ending to his historic season.
The post Jayson Tatum pulls off Celtics feat never even done by Larry Bird appeared first on ClutchPoints.
