BBC NEWS: JT and the C’s Blow Out Luka and the Mavs for 10th Straight Win

Tatum has the skill to be putting up Doncic-like numbers on a consistent basis, as we’ve seen him dominate the game in so many different ways throughout his career. But he’s more focused this season on making the right play each time down the court than by padding his personal stats.

He explained, “If KP cuts to the basket or if he pops back off a screen, or if JB has a mismatch, or we come down in transition and Al (Horford) seeks out the mismatch at the block – if it calls for me to essentially pass the ball eight possessions in a row because that’s the right read, then you have to trust that that’s what’s going to help us win the game.”

That, right there, is the mindset of an MVP.

In this case, Porzingis had the hot hand early Friday night, scoring 10 of Boston’s first 15 points. Tatum could have tried to step in amid KP’s spree to put his own scoring stamp on the game, but he recognized that his teammate was in a flow and had no intention of disrupting it.

Tatum knew his time would come, and it did. In the third quarter, Dallas pulled to within two points of the C’s, and that’s when Tatum took control. He went off for 16 points during the frame while making 4-of-5 from deep. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, he had Boston in the driver’s seat with a 12-point lead.