Jayson Tatum missed his first six shots, including an airball and a front-rimmed dunk. He didn’t score until converting a putback dunk after a Payton Pritchard miss with one minute left in the second quarter.
That bucket seemed to give Tatum back some level of comfort. On the next Celtics possession, he drained a stepback 3-pointer from the left corner. Despite the apparent rust, he entered halftime on pace for a triple-double with 5 points, five rebounds and five assists over 14 minutes. Tatum let out a smile before walking to the Celtics locker room.
After missing his first six shots, Tatum drained his next five. He scored 5 points over the final 1:16 of the second quarter and 7 points over the first 3:29 of the second. During that stretch, he finished a strong drive at the rim, pulled up for a midrange jumper in the pick-and-roll and drained a 3-pointer over a nearby defender. His scoring outburst helped the Celtics take a double-digit lead during the third quarter. They continued pulling away during the fourth.