Jayson Tatum’s last-second shot lifts Celtics over Pelicans: 8 takeaways
Jayson Tatum’s clutch heroics propelled the Celtics to a 118-116 victory over the Pelicans on Friday. Read more on Boston.com.
Celtics
Boston's two biggest stars stepped up when it mattered – Tatum finished with 27 points and 10 assists, while Jaylen Brown led the team in scoring.
Jayson Tatum finished with 27 points and 10 assists on Friday. AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
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Jayson Tatum and the Celtics needed 47 minutes and 59.8 seconds to pull out a win over the Pelicans on Friday, but Tatum’s clutch heroics propelled the Celtics to a 118-116 victory.
Here are the takeaways.
Friday’s result was a great argument for not calling a timeout when a team ties the game late.
With 24 seconds precisely remaining, C.J. McCollum spun into the paint and floated in a tough shot over Derrick White to even the score, and rather than allowing the Pelicans to put their preferred lineup in the game, Jrue Holiday quickly inbounded the ball, and Joe Mazzulla motioned for his team to go at it.
Advertisement:Holiday started the possession with the ball, guarded by McCollum. Tatum was defended by former Celtic – and Tatum’s good friend when he was in Boston – Javonte Green. As Holiday dribbled, Tatum could be seen motioning at him to wait.
Finally, with 10 seconds left, Tatum surged toward Holiday, and as he connected for the screen, he took a step forward, essentially forcing McCollum and the much more athletic Green to switch. Tatum took the pass from Holiday with eight seconds remaining and a vastly inferior defender guarding him. The Pelicans, in the first of two very puzzling last-second decisions, did nothing to get McCollum off the Celtics’ superstar.
Advertisement:Then, with just under five seconds left, Tatum attacked.
What a shot from Jayson Tatum.
— Steve Jones Jr (@stevejones20.bsky.social) 2025-02-01T03:24:43.625Z“To me, it was more about playing the clock the right way,” Joe Mazzulla told reporters afterward. “Getting to the spot he wanted, getting to the matchup, and making sure we got as close to the last possible shot that we did. So it was well-executed, and he made a great play.”
Mazzulla also praised the shot prior to Tatum’s – a tough fall-away jumper by Jaylen Brown, which gave the Celtics the lead that McCollum cut into with his floater and ensured they would get their 2-for-1 opportunity.
The Celtics were far from dominant on Friday, but their two biggest stars stepped up when it mattered – Tatum finished with 27 points and 10 assists, while Brown led the team in scoring with an efficient 28 points on 18 shots.
With 1:16 remaining, the Celtics appeared to get a big opportunity as Kristaps Porzingis rolled to the rim and elevated for a two-handed slam. Pelicans rookie Yves Missi went up to contest the dunk and blocked it away, but the Celtics’ bench furiously called for a goaltend.
A replay showed that they were absolutely correct – as Porzingis threw the ball down, Missi put his hand through the rim to block it.
Advertisement:The officials appeared somewhat apologetic when speaking to an exasperated Derrick White, but they couldn’t review the play for a goal tend, because they didn’t call it in the first place. They did call a foul, which sent Porzingis to the free-throw line, but the Celtics couldn’t challenge a call that went their way.
“To me, it just makes sense to call [the goal tend] so that you can get it right, especially under two minutes,” Mazzulla said. “When you know a play is reviewable, it just makes sense to call it that way so that way you can get it back. But they didn’t.”
Porzingis, perhaps flustered by the lack of a call, missed both free throws. He wasn’t alone – both Tatum and Brown went 1-for-2 at the line in the fourth quarter, and Porzingis went 1-for-2 on a separate trip as well, meaning the Celtics shot 3-for-8 on their final eight free throws.
The Celtics have blown some games that even Mazzulla admitted were bad this season, and if Tatum and Brown hadn’t bailed themselves out with their big shots late, Friday’s free-throw shooting could have made for an ugly result.
Advertisement:“We didn’t play perfect, but it’s one of those games where if you win you’re happy, and if you lose, you’re not,” Mazzulla said. “So you just have to take it all. We had some well-executed plays. I thought we executed down the stretch.”
Tatum’s shot went through the rim at 0:00.2, so the Pelicans were essentially doomed as soon as it did. However, in theory, 0.2 seconds is enough time to tip the ball in if a team lobs it at the rim and taps it in (and, importantly, you can’t call goaltending on an out-of-bounds play).
The Celtics put Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kornet at the rim, and Al Horford defended the inbound pass – the basketball equivalent of defending against a Hail Mary pass.
The Pelicans, however, did the equivalent of running the ball directly into the line of scrimmage. Missi, the team’s biggest and most athletic player, wasn’t even in the game. Trey Murphy, Brandon Boston, and C.J. McCollum were the only players inside the 3-point line. Jose Alvarado stood behind the 3-point line gesturing in apparent confusion.
Bafflingly, the Pelicans then ran Alvarado through a screen for McCollum, who peeled out to the 3-point line and took the inbound pass from Javonte Green. McCollum’s half-hearted heaved hook shot came nowhere near the rim and was nowhere near counting even if it had.
The Pelicans presumably weren’t actively tanking, but the final play was not the play of a team that was particularly desperate to win.
The Pelicans were very short-handed, missing Zion Williamson, Herb Jones, Brandon Ingram and others, but they had Trey Murphy III and that was nearly enough.
Advertisement:The fourth-year wing is having a breakout season, averaging 21.5 points per game, but Friday’s game was particularly special – he finished with 40 points on 15-for-20 shooting overall and 8-for-12 from 3-point range. He got so hot, his eighth 3-pointer was a prayer from the wing which was answered off glass (and, incidentally, probably shouldn’t have counted).
“I think what let him get going was the transition [threes] that we gave them up,” Mazzulla said. “I think he made three transition ones in a row, and that’s where he’s at his best, especially with the way they play. Two came off pretty good shots, one by JT and one by Sam, one came off a poor rim read and they were able to get out and we lost him.
“And then he’s really good. So we mixed up some coverages, we were able to take away some of his pick-and-roll ones, and he made a couple really tough ones.”
The Pelicans don’t have much this year, but they seem to have something real in Murphy.
Has White shaken off his shooting struggles? Prior to Friday’s game, White shot 4-for-10 from three in his last two games. Against the Pelicans, he was 3-for-6, and he made one triple after taking a couple of steps to relocate himself behind the 3-point line, which was a nice sign of confidence from a player who appeared to be lacking some recently.
The Celtics have to defend a little differently when Porzingis is on the floor – his drop defense doesn’t always allow players to switch, and his size necessarily prevents him from being as mobile as some of his teammates.
Advertisement:On the other hand, Porzingis also makes other teams play offense differently. When they don’t, he has nights like Friday – Porzingis finished with four blocks and three steals, providing the Celtics with a dominant presence at the rim that they missed early in the season when he was out.
Porzingis added 16 points on 5-for-12 shooting and six assists to his total.
The Pelicans lost guard Dejounte Murray for the rest of the season (and potentially beyond) to a torn Achilles in the first half, according to Chris Haynes.
The diagnosis comes as little surprise. With four minutes remaining in the first quarter, Murray drove and planted to attempt a floater. He missed, and when he landed, pushed forward to try to grab the rebound. Immediately, he went to the ground holding the back of his heel. He got up to try to get out of the way of the play and hopped toward the sideline, putting no weight at all on the foot.
NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin reported that Murray left the arena on crutches well before the game was over.
Here’s hoping Murray has a speedy recovery.
The Celtics will now travel to Philly on Sunday to face their rival Sixers, who have shown some signs of life behind Tyrese Maxey in recent weeks but would still miss the playoffs entirely if the season ended today.
They will wrap up their three-game road swing with a fascinating rematch against the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Tuesday.
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