Jayson Tatum is climbing toward the mountaintop at a pace we’ve hardly ever seen. In just his third season, the 22-year-old is leading a championship contender, and doing so with performances emblematic of the greatest of the greats.
By the time the final possession of regulation rolled around in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals Tuesday night, Tatum had already made his mark. He had recorded 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the third consecutive game, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of those Mt. Rushmore legends, to become the youngest player in NBA history to pull off the feat. He had already clinched his sixth 20-point, 10-rebound game of the playoffs, joining LeBron James as the only perimeter players ever to put that kind of stamp on a stretch of games.
But with the clock winding down in Game 1 and the contest tied at 106, Tatum was in full control of the situation. It was no longer about the impressive body of work he has put together…
