Jayson Tatum hits the vintage game winner that Celtics avoids disruption of short -haired pelicans

Boston Celtics probably shouldn’t need heroik from Jayson Tatum to beat New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night, but they still take the victory.

With less than a second back in a tie game, Tatum hit a disputed, game-winning fadeaway jump shot to give Celtics a dramatic 118-116 victory on the road. Tatum finished the game with 27 points on 10-of-21 shooting with 10 assists and six rebounds.

If this story sounds well known, it’s because no player has more forward shots in the last five seconds of a game since 2020 than Tatum.

Among the people impressed: Pelican’s Wing Herb Jones.

Celtics led in almost the entire other half, but not enough to prevent the home layer from tying the game with less than two minutes left. Jaylen Brown put them back in front with 34 seconds back, but CJ McCollum bundled it again with a float where he set the stage for Tatum.

The game winner negated a huge evening for Pelican’s Wing Trey Murphy III, which released 40 points, a short after a career mound, of 15-of-20 shooting (8-of-12 from deep) with five rebounds and four assists. He almost led the Pelicans to a miracle win after they stood in the game still without the wounded Jones and Brandon Ingram, with Zion Williamson out with a disease, and then reportedly loses Dejointe Murray to a broken Achilles late, which means he will miss it for the rest of this season and probably a good part of the next one.

The victory was quietly important to Celtics, who are only 7-6 over their last 13 games and struggles to stay ahead of New York Knicks for second place in the eastern conference. They are facing another short -herth team in the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.