Editor's note: This story was originally published on Dec. 23, 2022. On Sunday, Jayson Tatum scored 51 points in Boston's Game 7 win against Philadelphia. JAYSON TATUM HAS replayed the two air balls he shot in the fourth quarter of the Boston Celtics' loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of the NBA Finals so many times he can tell you every last detail of the plays.
From the way Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney were defending him to the footwork he used to set up his fadeaway from the elbow and the 3-pointer he'd confidently taken and made just a minute earlier.
The ball had come out of his hands just as he wanted it to. This was what he lived for. «I thought [they were] going in,» he says.
Then both shots fell a foot short. The first air ball he shook off quickly. But the second one in the span of a few minutes was hard to reconcile.