Jayson Tatum had a weird and wild Game 6 that he hopes never happens again

BOSTON -- Jayson Tatum had one of the most frustrating yet satisfying nights in the Boston's Game 6 win over the 76ers in Philadelphia on Thursday night. The C's star came through when it counted, hitting four clutch threes later in the fourth quarter to lead Boston to victory.

But leading up to that epic performance in the final four minutes of the 95-86 win, Tatum's offensive showing was downright cringeworthy. He once again struggled from the jump, as has been the case the last three games, but those struggles followed him into the third quarter. And then into the fourth quarter.

It made for an extremely uncomfortable night for the Celtics, who could have blown the 76ers out in the must-win Game 6. Instead, the 76ers were able to keep things close and even take a lead in the fourth quarter because of Tatum's struggles.

The guy just could not hit a shot. Period. He went 0-for-10 in the first half, with his only point coming on a technical free throw. Over the first 44 minutes of the contest, Tatum was a dreadful 1-for-14 from the floor.

And then, with the Celtics trailing 83-81 with just over four minutes left, Tatum remembered that he's an All-NBA first teamer and caught fire. He hit a go-ahead three with 4:14 left for his first make from downtown. Then 39 seconds later, he hit another to put Boston on top 87-83.

That was essentially the dagger for the Celtics, but for good measure, Tatum hit two more threes to seal the victory. And they were beautiful makes, gracefully tickling the nylon as they added to Boston's lead and sank the 76ers. His deep make with 1:53 left put the Celtics on top by eight, and he drained another with 37.1 seconds to go as an exclamation point.

After that brutal start, Tatum scored 16 points in the fourth quarter. He was 4-for-7 over the final four minutes, including a near-pristine 4-for-5 from downtown. He ended the night with 19 points on an abysmal 5-for-21 shooting, but making those shots when it really mattered has to have him feeling pretty good about himself heading into Sunday's Game 7 back in Boston.

He outscored the 76ers on his own in the fourth quarter by a 16-13 margin. He outscored them 12-3 over the final four minutes.

Even as he was missing everything, Tatum still made an impact elsewhere on the floor. He pulled down nine rebounds, dished out six assists, and recorded a pair of blocks and steals for Boston. 

But it was the rest of the Celtics team that kept things afloat as Tatum struggled. Jaylen Brown (17 points) once again set the tone early, and Malcolm Brogdon (16 points, including 4-for-6 from downtown) hit some massive shots for the C's in the second quarter. Marcus Smart was the main catalyst though, scoring 22 points while setting the tone on defense throughout the game. The Boston defense was locked in and it showed, holding Philly to just 36 percent from the floor and 23.5 percent from deep.

But we may be feeling very different this Friday morning had Tatum not hit those threes in the end. It took a full team effort to pull out another Game 6 victory on the road, and as things got tight in the final frame, the Celtics knew they needed Tatum.

His teammates kept urging him to keep shooting throughout his struggles. They knew that eventually, the team's star player would break through. And when he did, it opened the floodgates for Tatum.

"You want to win so bad. You want to play so well," Tatum said after the game. "And when shots aren't falling, things just aren't necessarily going your way, you want it so bad. Trying to stay present, trying to stay in the moment, trying to do other things. And every timeout, every huddle, my teammates are telling me, 'The next one's going to go in. Keep rebounding, keep getting assists, keep getting blocks, keep impacting the game. It's going to come. It's going to come.' So that was helpful, and just believing that the next one is going in."

Eventually, that next one went in. And then the next one, and after a miss, he made two more. It wasn't how Tatum drew it up, but he came through when the Celtics needed it most.

It was infuriating and uncomfortable to watch, and we'd all love it if Tatum would just get going from the jump and make life easier on everyone. But it all paid off in the end on Thursday, leading to a truly unique performance from Boston's star.

It's a performance Tatum hopes he never repeats.

"I don't want to do this [stuff] again," he joked after the win. "Hopefully that was a one time thing."