BOSTON — Jayson Tatum scored 40 points against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night, including 18 points that required him to stand completely still while everyone else watched.
The Celtics forward made a career-high 18 free throws on 22 attempts during Boston's 125–124 overtime victory, proving that a player does not need to move very far to have an enormous impact on the scoreboard.
To be clear, the other 22 points involved the usual complications: defenders, movement, difficult shots and the possibility that another human being might interfere.
The free throws offered a different arrangement.
Tatum approached a designated line, received the basketball and attempted a shot that nobody was allowed to contest.
He completed that process 18 times.
Brooklyn, meanwhile, had enough problems with the points Tatum scored while moving. Rookie Mikel Brown Jr. hit a dramatic three to force overtime, and the Nets later took a one-point lead with only seconds remaining.
Tatum then hit the game's winning jumper at the buzzer, reminding everyone that his offensive repertoire still includes shots worth more than one point.
The contrast was remarkable.
For most of the evening, Brooklyn had to defend Tatum through every screen, cut and drive.
At the foul line, the Nets had to observe the league's mandatory noninterference policy.
Tatum finished with 40 points and the victory.
For Brooklyn, it was a harsh lesson in modern defense.
Sometimes the best way to stop an opponent is to avoid giving him an uncontested shot.
Especially 22 of them.
