The world belongs to Tatum

Tatum's story is the same as Giannis's, but with a chapter delay. Perhaps because they arrived in the nba four years apart, which are the ones they take for reasons of birth. Or perhaps, because the return of green pride to the top of the nba has more to do with the narrative inherent to the best League in the world than with merit. antetokounmpo got the maximum award from him in 2021, a year marked by the coronavirus that served to vindicate his figure and show that he was simply one of the best players ever. Jayson, leader of those Celtics who are always there but have not yet arrived, lacks that: the promised title, the eternally postponed ring. What all the stars try to achieve throughout their careers but only a handful,

The Celtics beat the Bucks in the Christmas game of the 2022-23 season. They did it led by Jayson Tatum, 41 points in his personal account and 39 in just the first three quarters. It exploded in a neat third set and completely dominated by a green team that showed all its weapons and beat its rivals 38-25. And that, in the reissue of the last semifinals of the Eastern Conference, that series from which for many the champion would come out (which ended up being the Warriors), gives one more point to some Celtics who had shown doubts in the last fights on the calendar , but who have recovered with a blow of authority in the most important game and against the most difficult opponent.

Khris Middleton did not play for the Bucks, a slab that the Milwaukee team already encountered in the last Eastern finals and with which they have once again had a game that matters less, but that matters. The next one who scored the most after Tatum and his 41 points (20 in the third quarter) was Jaylen Brown who stayed at 29 (5 of 9 on triples). And the Greens relied on these two players, aware of their strengths, which are responsible for the team shooting with 58.8% from the field and close to 50% in triples (19 of 39). The Celtics scored 17 points in transition, dished out 29 assists and committed just 11 turnovers, outscoring their opponents 77-57 throughout the second half.

Giannis did not have his day, and that for him is reaching 27 points and 9 rebounds. He received a monumental dunk from Tatum during the first quarter and had a run-in with Brown in the last fruit of impotence and despair (and which ended with Marcus Smart facing Thanasis), something that was resolved amicably between the two once the whistle sounded final. The Greek abused the triple by not being able to penetrate (1 of 5) and had too many problems when Joe Mazzulla filled the area with voluminous bodies. Without Middleton, the best was a Jrue Holiday who went to 26 points and 8 of 14 in shots, but it was insufficient help to set another rhythm in a second half in which the environmental pressure was combined with the superiority of talent from a group of players who have a very clear goal.

And that's how things will continue: the Celtics want to make what they last won in 2008 a reality, the lone triumph in the entire 21st century and, if we go further, since 1986, with Larry Bird and company. At the moment, they only say it in whispers, afraid that if they raise their voices, the dream will vanish. On the way they are going, success is totally possible and the victory against the Bucks gives them something that could be important in the end: the leadership of the East (24-10, against the Bucks 22-11), something that would give them against their great rival that field advantage so traditionally important in a Conference in which having the support of the public can be essential to tip the balance. A few months ago the ceiling was those Warriors who, no matter how they are, are the last great dynasty in the history of the North American competition, and perhaps the best of all time. Now, and for the moment, the best are them. An enviable team, strong at home, well trained, excellently composed and compensated. And with a reference who is on his way to becoming an MVP and an eternal reference in the NBA: Jayson Tatum.

And that, in the reissue of the last semifinals of the Eastern Conference, that series from which for many the champion would come out (which ended up being the Warriors), gives one more point to some Celtics who had shown doubts in the last fights on the calendar , but who have recovered with a blow of authority in the most important game and against the most difficult opponent.