Jayson Tatum Addresses Brutal Overtime Turnover In Celtics Win

Jayson Tatum put the dagger in the Pacers on Tuesday night when he drilled a 3-pointer with 43 seconds left in overtime at TD Garden.

But just over a minute before the clutch bucket, the Celtics franchise cornerstone put his team in real danger.

Tatum committed an ugly turnover with Boston hanging onto a one-point lead in OT with under two minutes to play. The five-time All-Star was expecting Jrue Holiday to roll out after setting a pick near half-court, but Tatum ended up floating the basketball right to Tyrese Haliburton. The Indiana star raced up court, was fouled on a 3-point attempt and knocked down a trio from the free-throw line to give the visitors a two-point edge.

Fortunately for Tatum, Boston was more buttoned up from there and logged a 133-128 win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. After the series opener, the 26-year-old opened up about his mistake that could’ve doomed the C’s.

“I’m so glad we won the game because I would have been sick,” Tatum told reporters, per MassLive. “That play was some miscommunication. We just talked about afterward and thought that I was going to come off the screen. I thought that they would corral him and double him. I thought he was going to slip. He was still (able to) jump and pass the ball, so that was on me.”

Tatum had some rough moments Monday night, but he still was one of the best players on the floor. The seventh-year pro dropped a game-high 36 points to go along with 12 rebounds and a plus-20 rating, the highest mark of any player by a considerable margin.

Nonetheless, Tatum will try to play a cleaner game Thursday night when the Celtics and the Pacers meet for Game 2. Tipoff from TD Garden is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.