Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant each make scoring history in shootout between Celtics and Nets

Kyle Irving

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Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant each make scoring history in shootout between Celtics and Nets image

Jayson Tatum and Kevin Durant just gave us one of the best shootouts of the 2021-22 NBA season.

Both superstars were on fire from the get-go in Sunday's showdown between the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets. From the opening tip, you could feel that we were in for a shot-making clinic between two of the best scorers in the NBA.

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Tatum was unguardable, cooking any Nets defender who stood in his way.

Durant did what Durant always does, scoring with ease no matter how difficult the defense made each shot attempt.

Tatum was surgical, pouring in a season-high 54 points while shooting 16-for-30 from the field with eight 3-pointers. Durant was deadly, racking up 37 points, going 12-for-21 from the field with four 3s.

Each performance was historic in its own right, as Tatum and Durant both joined elite company in the NBA record books.

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For Tatum, this marked his fourth 50-point game in a Celtics uniform, tying him with Hall of Famer Larry Bird for the most in franchise history.

 

When you include playoffs, Tatum stands alone at the top of Celtics history with six games of 50-plus points.

All six of Tatum's games with 50-plus points have come in the last calendar year, giving him three times as many 50-point games as the next player in the NBA (Stephen Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard are all tied with two).

Jaylen Brown put it best after the game, saying, "Today, this man to the left was unstoppable," in his co-press conference with Tatum.

As for Durant, he became the 23rd player in NBA history to reach the 25,000-point mark for his career.

Reaching that milestone in 922 games, Durant was the seventh-fastest player to 25,000 points in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West.

After the game, Durant was candid in his response about joining the 25K club. "It’s pretty cool. I should be at 30 if I’m being honest," he told the media.

"It’s cool. It’s cool to set that milestone and be amongst the greats. I just got to keep pushing and keep going to see where I end up.”

The Celtics continue to roll with this victory, picking up their 16th win in their last 19 games. The Nets' skid continues, losing four in a row to drop to under .500 on the season at 32-33.

MORE: Why Nets making the playoffs isn't a certainty

Brooklyn is sitting in ninth-place, holding just a 2.5-game lead over the first team out of the Play-In Tournament picture as their postseason hopes are far from cemented with only 17 games remaining in the season.

Kyle Irving

Kyle Irving Photo

You read that wrong – not Kyrie Irving. From Boston, graduated from the University of New Hampshire. Sixth season as a content producer for NBA.com's Global editions. Covering the NBA Draft has become his annual "dream come true" moment on the job. Irving has a soft spot for pass-first point guards, with Rajon Rondo and Steve Nash being two of his favorite players of all time.