Jayson Tatum just added another rare line to his Celtics résumé, and it put him in company with Larry Bird.
The former Duke star dropped 40 points for Boston on Tuesday night against the Brooklyn Nets, then sealed it with the game-winning shot at the buzzer in overtime. It was Tatum’s first 40-point performance since coming back in March from a torn right Achilles, and according to Basketball Reference, he became just the second player in Celtics history to score at least 40 and hit a buzzer-beater in the same game. Bird did it twice.
Basketball Reference also lists the shot as Tatum’s third career buzzer-beater, which ties Bill Sharman for third-most in Celtics history. Only Paul Pierce, with six, and Bird, with four, are ahead of him.
"That was a hell of a feeling," Tatum said of the shot. "Just kind of getting back to doing things that, you know, I used to do before I was injured."
The night also pushed Tatum into a place no NBA player had reached before. He became the first in league history to finish a game with at least 40 points and a game-winning buzzer-beater before November.
Tatum, a St. Louis native, was the No. 3 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft after one season at Duke.
He averaged 16.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists as a Blue Devil, helping Duke go 28-9 in 2016-17 before the Blue Devils were knocked out by South Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. His top scoring game at Duke came on February 15, 2017, when he scored 28 against Virginia.
Since then, he’s built a star’s resume in Boston. Tatum helped the Celtics win the 2024 NBA championship over the Dallas Mavericks in five games, then suffered a torn Achilles in Game 4 of the 2025 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. He returned from the injury in less than a year last season.
Now a six-time All-Star, Tatum entered this season with career averages of 23.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists in the regular season, along with 24.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists in the playoffs.
He remains the only former Blue Devil on the Celtics, and Duke fans still have reason to keep an eye on Boston. Tatum, along with Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving, went back to Duke this offseason and played pick-up games.
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