Jayson Tatum set a new NBA record in his electric Game 7 performance

BOSTON -- After Jayson Tatum struggled through most of the first six games against the 76ers, the Celtics needed their superstar to be a superstar in Sunday's deciding Game 7.

So what did Jayson Tatum do? He went absolutely supernova on Philadelphia and set a new Game 7 record with 51 points in Boston's 112-88 blowout win, sending his team back to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight year.

Despite the win-or-go-home stakes of Sunday's Game 7, Tatum was relaxed and mellow throughout as he drained shot after shot. He was 0-for-15 in the first quarter over the last three games, which put the Celtics in tough positions from the jump. On Sunday, there was no doubt about his first bucket, a dunk two-and-a-half minutes into the game. 

He missed three of his next four shots, but that would not become a trend. Tatum finished with 11 points in the first quarter on 4-for-8 shooting, and he was just warming up.

He poured in 14 points in the second quarter on 5-for-8 shooting, with the Celtics going up 55-52 on Tatum's 3-pointer with 32 seconds on the clock. He went into the locker room with 25 points, hitting nine of his first 16 shots on the afternoon.

But he was not satisfied. Not yet. Not until Boston was on to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Tatum's third quarter was even more masterful, as he outscored the 76ers himself by a 17-10 margin. He hit four of his five threes in the frame, and erupted toward the crowd after splashing home a triple at the 6:15 mark to put Boston on top 73-58. He was telling the basketball world that this was his house, and no one was coming in and stealing a Game 7 win.

He fed off the TD Garden crowd on Sunday, and gave fans a reason to stay on their feet and lose their voice throughout the game.

"The emotions got the best of me in that moment – in a good way," he said of his reaction toward the fans. "I gotta give a lot of credit to the crowd. We needed that, and this is probably the loudest the garden has been in a year. We fed off that energy."

"I love being here. I love putting on this uniform and playing in big games in front of them," Tatum added later in his postgame chat with reporters. "They feed off emotion and energy, and it's reciprocated. I can't express it enough that I love being here and I love playing in front of this crowd."

Tatum added nine more points in the fourth quarter, and left the floor to a wild ovation from the fans. And he deserved every second of it after treating them to a record-setting performance. 

Tatum's 51 points are a new NBA record for a Game 7, surpassing the 50 points that Steph Curry dropped on Sacramento in Game 7 of the Warriors-Kings first-round series just two weeks ago. Tatum's 51-piece is the third-most points ever scored by a Celtics player in a playoff game, trailing only John Havlicek's 54-points in the 1973 East semis against the Hawks and Isaiah Thomas' 53 points against the Wizards in the 2017 East semis.

His performance marks the first time that a Celtics player has ever scored 50 points or more in a Game 7. And Tatum did it in an incredibly efficient -- and seemingly effortless -- way, hitting 17 of his 28 shots from the floor. He sank six of his 10 threes, and added 11 points at the line on his 14 free-throw attempts.

But believe it or not, Tatum's masterpiece was much more than his 51 points. He also led the Celtics with 13 rebounds and five assists, along with some strong defense throughout. He was a scoring machine on Sunday, but Tatum's all-around game was on full display for the world to see.

"As I've gotten older and looked through my career, I've tried to grow. I've always been looked at as a scorer, but to be one of the best players, what can I do every night on both ends of the floor to dominate? Dominating is not just scoring," he said humbly. "I try to rebound as best I can, get blocks and assists. Those things excite my teammates more than hitting shots.

"Me diving on the floor, sometimes that gives us more energy than hitting a step-back three. So I'm always looking for ways to dominate the game other than scoring," he said.

The Tatum that we saw Sunday was everything we were screaming for throughout the first six games of the series. Tatum struggled in Games 2, 5, and 6, mostly due to his frigid starts. In Thursday night's Game 6 win in Philadelphia, he missed his first seven 3-pointers before hitting four in the fourth quarter to lead the Celtics to a comeback win and keep the series alive.

That hot finish gave him the confidence to go out and do what he did on Sunday. Tatum was finally out of his own head, and ready to do what he does best.

"It was definitely in my mind that I played as bad as it could get for 42 minutes [in Game 6]. We had a saying that it could only go up from there," said Tatum. "They had us on the ropes in Game 6 at the end of the third going into the fourth. They had us and we found a way to win and that was a great feeling."

He was most excited to get a chance at redemption in front of Celtics fans. He did not disappoint.

"I was too tight, too in my own head thinking about the things I needed to do. Today, I was more of myself," said Tatum. "I was relaxed and joking pre-game, and that is when I'm at my best, when I'm having fun. I've been doing this since I was a kid and it's something I love to do. So I just relaxed and thought of the days at the YMCA as a kid. Tried not to think about the pressure and just focused on the game. When I'm having fun, that's when I'm at my best."

Tatum was certainly at his best on Sunday, putting in his finest postseason performance yet. Now the 25-year-old will look to carry that over in the fifth Eastern Conference Finals appearance of his career.