Duke Basketball Great Likely to Post All-Time Celtics Scoring Average
The Boston Celtics (56-25) are locked into the No. 2 seed from the Eastern Conference for the NBA Playoffs. With that in mind, it's a safe bet that former Duke basketball star Jayson Tatum will sit out their regular-season finale against the visiting Atlanta Hawks at 1 p.m. ET Sunday while gearing up for the postseason.
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He's currently listed as questionable for that outing.
Therefore, the 6-foot-8 forward should finish with a 30.1 season scoring average, becoming the first Boston player to record more than 30 points per game for a season. Next on the list is the legendary Larry Bird, who averaged 29.9 points for the 1987-88 Celtics.
If Tatum does play on Sunday, he would need to score at least 21 points to secure the franchise record.
As a pro, the St. Louis native has never failed to increase his average minutes, points, rebounds, and assists from one year to the next. And he's only 25 years old, probably a year or two from entering the prime of his career.
Following his 21 points, three rebounds, and four assists across only 20 minutes of action in Boston's 121-102 home win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night, his likely final season averages are 30.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists. He shot 46.6 percent from the field, his highest mark since his rookie campaign.
His scoring average is also the highest from any NBA Blue Devil in history.
There's no telling the production level that Jayson Tatum, who went No. 3 overall at the 2017 NBA Draft following his lone Duke basketball season, might reach in the coming years.
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