Celtics star Jayson Tatum became the first Boston player since Larry Bird to record a 40-point triple-double during Saturday’s win over the Bulls in Chicago. Tatum posted 43 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in Boston’s 123-98 triumph.
After a big night like that, we had to dig a little deeper on the data. Here are four more numbers that accentuated just how dominant Tatum was Saturday night:
Pulling up in the Windy City
Tatum generated an absurd 26 points off pull-up shots. He connected on 9 of 16 pull-up attempts, including going 8 of 14 beyond the 3-point arc on those shots.
Just how ridiculous is that number? For the season, Luka Doncic tops the NBA averaging 12.3 pull-up points per game. Tatum ranks sixth in the NBA, averaging 10 pull-up points per game while shooting 36 percent on those attempts (both from the floor and beyond the 3-point arc).
Tatum’s 81.3 effective field goal percentage in Saturday’s game was 31.7 percent higher than his season average (49.6) on pull-up attempts.
Once Tatum saw a couple shots go in, it felt like he could pull up from just about anywhere. And he routinely did.
Point generation machine
In addition to his 43 points scored, Tatum generated 21 assist points off his 10 helpers to finish with 64 points generated. He also got credited with two secondary assists.
That’s a solid jump from Tatum’s season averages: 15.4 assist points created per game off 5.7 helpers.
Maybe most impressive is that Tatum and All-Star teammate Jaylen Brown combined for 24 potential assists and 18 actual assists overall. Their passing generated 41 assist points.
The Celtics tend to be at their best when their superstars are not only scoring but getting everyone else involved.
PSA to the league
Tatum delivered a public service announcement with another PSA — points per shot attempt.
His 173.9 points per 100 shot attempts average was his second-best output of the season (second only to his 194.7 PSA in the season opener versus the Knicks) and ranks in the 91st percentile among all games in the NBA this season, per Cleaning the Glass data.
All over the glass
Tatum’s 15 rebounds were a season-high, but his efficiency in hunting caroms was particularly impressive. Tatum grabbed those 15 boards on 21 rebound chances, per NBA tracking. That means he grabbed 71.4 percent of all his rebound opportunities.
For the season, Tatum is averaging 9.3 rebounds on 14.7 chances per game, or a rebound chance percentage of 63.1 percent. That’s the best on Boston’s roster among regulars, and that number spiked 8.3 percent in Saturday’s game.
Among the 83 players in the NBA averaging at least 10 rebound chances per game, Tatum is 10th in rebound chance percentage, and his mark Saturday night would lead the NBA.
Still waiting on the poster dunk score
You’ve probably heard Dunk Score mentioned on our broadcast this season. The NBA devised a metric this season that uses all the player-tracking data to assign a score to each slam. Key factors include takeoff distance, max vertical height, ball speed through the rim, and defender proximity.
Jaylen Brown registered the third-highest dunk score of the season for his poster on Jalen Smith back on November 29. That dunk registered at 109.6. But somehow the NBA did not generate a dunk score for Tatum’s similar poster slam over Smith on Saturday night.
Of the 29 dunks on Tatum’s NBA dunk register, only three of his four slams showed up on dunk score after Saturday’s game, and nothing higher than a 44.4. It feels like a good bet that Tatum’s dunk over Smith would top his season best of 68.6 (on October 26 versus Detroit).
Or maybe Tatum’s slam broke the dunk scale.
