ORLANDO — Though he has yet to see the floor in his first NBA postseason, Baylor Scheierman has made one visible contribution to the Celtics’ first-round playoff series.
Jayson Tatum revealed after Sunday night’s Game 4 win in Orlando that Scheierman, the lone rookie on Boston’s roster, was the one who dreamed up his new 3-point celebration.
Since returning from the bone bruise that kept him out of Game 2, Tatum has celebrated his threes by reaching his arms over his head and grabbing his taped-up right wrist.
“Shoutout to the rook, man, Baylor,” Tatum said after the Celtics’ 107-98 win over the Magic at the Kia Center. “He came up with the celebration when I hit a three. I think people are taking notice, and it’s a new thing for now.”
Tatum suffered the injury on a hard foul by Magic guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in Game 1 — the first of three Flagrant 1 fouls Orlando has committed in the series — and missed the first playoff game of his NBA career as a result. In his first game back last Friday, he scored 36 points but committed seven turnovers in a 95-93 Celtics loss.
On Sunday, Tatum lowered his turnover total to two and was similarly successful as a scorer, tallying 34 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and three steals in a bounce-back win for Boston. Sixteen of his points came in the fourth quarter as the Celtics pulled away late.
Though the Celtics removed Tatum from their injury report ahead of Game 4, he said postgame that his wrist had not fully healed.
“I mean, yeah, it’s whatever,” Tatum said. “I know what I’m dealing with. My team knows how serious is, but it’s that time of year. We’re all sacrificing our bodies and doing through things. It’s the playoffs. I doubt anybody feels 100%, but you step on that floor, do what you can, give it your all. It’s all about trying to figure out how to win.”
After Orlando tied the score at 91-91 with 4:18 remaining, Tatum outscored the Magic by himself down the stretch, scoring nine of Boston’s final 11 points. He made all 14 of his foul shots in the game — including three after a costly late-game foul by Magic star Paolo Banchero — after going 12-for-12 from the line in Game 3.
“(That’s) just poise,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Poise and having an understanding of your environment. Obviously, some shot-making there, but at the same time, physical drives, getting to the free-throw line. At the end of the day, both teams were playing physical. You have to be able to execute at both ends of the floor, and I thought he did a great job of that.”