On June 18, the Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the Finals, securing their 18th championship title with a 4-1 series victory. Jayson Tatum’s exceptional performance marked several milestones.
In the match, Tatum recorded 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 11 assists with 2 steals, making him the first Celtics player in history to score at least 30 points and dish out 10 assists in a Finals game. He also joined Stephen Curry, James Worthy, Walt Frazier, and Jerry West as the fifth player in NBA history to notch a 30/5/10 line in a Finals closer.
Additionally, Tatum surpassed Kobe Bryant and LeBron James to become the all-time playoff scoring leader for players under 26 years old. However, there was an unusual statistic. Throughout the Finals, Tatum averaged 22.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game.
Tatum became the first player to lead his team in scoring, rebounding, and assists in the playoffs but not win the Finals MVP. Other players who accomplished this feat, such as Larry Bird (1984), Hakeem Olajuwon (1994), Tim Duncan (2003), LeBron James (2012, 2013, 2016), and Nikola Jokić (2023), all claimed the Finals MVP award.