LeBron James is the NBA's all-time scoring king. However, not even the Los Angeles Lakers superstar could touch Jayson Tatum‘s latest scoring milestone after the Boston Celtics superstar caught fire yet again on Saturday night against the Utah Jazz.
After failing to score a single point in the opening quarter, Tatum exploded for 15 points to close out the half for the Celtics. This allowed him to eclipse the 2,000 points mark this season — a feat that Tatum alone has achieved throughout the league:
Now, that's impressive, especially if you consider how many other gifted scorers there are in the NBA today. As a matter of fact, Tatum's 30.2 points per game is just sixth in the league. Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid leads the pack with 33.5 points per game, with Luka Doncic, Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander rounding off the Top 5, respectively.
This speaks volumes of Tatum's consistency and durability. Among all the aforementioned players, none of them has played more than 59 games this season. Tatum, on the other hand, has suited up in 67 out of the Celtics' 72 games this season.
Boston will need more of the same from Tatum, though, as the Celtics look to go on another extended playoff run this season. They've already had a taste of the NBA Finals last season, and Jayson Tatum and Co. are definitely looking to reach the same stage this year. There are a handful of teams that will be standing in their way, but with Tatum in the mix, Boston has another legitimate chance of going all the way this year.