Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said "staying aggressive" was key as he hit a new career-high mark of 39 points in a red-hot performance against the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday.
He delivered when it mattered. In crunch time against the Hornets, the Celtics got the ball to Tatum and got out of the way.
The 21-year-old scored 22 of his career-high 39 points in the fourth quarter as Boston pulled away and beat Charlotte 119-93.
The dynamic wing also dominated on the glass, where he set a new season-high in rebounds with 12. His 11 defensive rebounds led the game, and his 12 overall boards trailed only team-mate Enes Kanter's 13. He rounded out his box score with three blocked shots and two assists.
Five of Boston's reserves finished the game with plus/minus ratings of at least plus-13. Tatum was the reason why. His play buoyed many of those minutes with the second unit while leading the C's to another win.
"I was really happy with our team for finding him," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "As he got hot, they were locked into him."
Tatum's 39-point total surpassed his previous high of 34, recorded on January 14 of last season against Brooklyn, by a solid margin. The promising forward did not have a 30-point game before that but has now had four since.
"I just try to stay aggressive no matter what," Tatum said. "I feel like we've done a good job this year with [finding] different guys. Just trying to continue to make the right play but find the guy that's hot."
Malik Monk's three-point play 13 seconds into the fourth cut the Celtics' lead to four points, but Tatum scored 17 of the Celtics' next 19 points to blow the Hornets away.
"You know he's going to score at some point," Charlotte's Marvin Williams said of Tatum. "You just hope he doesn't get 40 like he did tonight. He's good enough to get 40. It's just one of those nights for him."
Tatum's step-back three-pointer with 4:30 remaining confirmed his new a career-high and his late surge reminded former Celtics guard Terry Rozier of what it feels like to go on a run in front of the Boston crowd.
"There's nothing better than these fans. They make you feel like you can touch the sky. He did just that," Rozier said. "He's a superstar in the making and just killed us tonight."