Jayson Tatum named Player of the Week for Week 9 of the 2021-22 season

The NBA announced today that Boston Celtics F Jayson Tatum and Minnesota Timberwolves C Karl-Anthony Towns have been named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively.

Tatum, specifically, averaged 31.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists in three contests last week as the Celtics went 2-1, including a big win against the defending champions – the Milwaukee Bucks.

Against the Bucks, Tatum dropped a season-high 42 points to go with 5 rebounds and 4 assists on a stellar 64% shooting from the field and 53.8% from behind the 3-point line on 7 makes. He finished the 117-103 win as a +21 on the court.

After several days of rest, Tatum almost led the Celtics to a win against the best team in the league so far this season – the Golden State Warriors. He posted 27 points on 9-19 shooting to go with 8 rebounds and 6 assists. The Celtics lost that game 111-107.

Jayson Tatum finished the week off on the second night of a back-to-back against the New York Knicks in which he posted 25 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists, bring the Celtics back to .500 ahead of a potentially favorable stretch after Christmas.

Tatum is questionable tonight with a left ankle sprain ahead of Boston’s matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers – a team with an almost equally long injury report as the Celtics. After a slow start, Tatum is starting to turn on the jets, and this latest distinction is even more indication. With All-Star voting coming up, now’s as good a time as any for him to go on his typical mid-season surge.