Celtics' Jayson Tatum named Eastern Conference's Player of the Week
BOSTON -- Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has been on a tear to start the new NBA season, and earned some hardware for it on Monday. Tatum was named the Eastern Conference's Player of the Week after leading Boston to a 3-0 record to start the season.
Tatum averaged 33 points over the first three games of the campaign, shooting a blistering 54.7 percent overall and 48.6 percent from three-point range. He's done a lot of everything for Boston, averaging 6.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game.
This is the third straight year that Tatum has won Player of the Week honors in the first two weeks of a season.
Jayson Tatum's big first week
Tatum and his Celtics teammates started their season by raising a championship banner and collecting their rings last Tuesday night, before going out and trouncing the New York Knicks, 132-109, at TD Garden. Tatum led the way for Boston with 37 points that night, when he hit 14 of his 18 shots overall and went 8-for-11 from downtown. He also added 10 assists and had just one turnover in Boston's season-opening victory.
He logged another double-double a few nights later when Tatum dropped 25 points and pulled down 11 rebounds -- to go with six assists -- in a 20-point win over the Washington Wizards.
Tatum dropped 37 points again on Saturday night when he helped the Celtics hang on for a 124-118 win over the pesky Pistons in Detroit. The Celtics let a big lead slip away, but Tatum scored eight points in the fourth quarter, including six in the final 65 seconds to help seal the victory.
Tatum's collection of Player of the Week awards
This marks the 11th time that Tatum has been named the East's Player of the Week over his eight-year career. He trails only Paul Pierce (17) and Larry Bird (15) on Boston's all-time list of Player of the Week award winners.
Tatum has also been named the Eastern Conference's Player of the Month four times in his career.
