It was the defining moment of an outstanding performance by Jayson Tatum in a 125-112 win over the Dallas Mavericks Wednesday night at the TD Garden.
And it came on the defensive end of the floor, though the Boston Celtics superstar added 37 points, along with 13 rebounds and five assists.
After the Mavericks hung around in the fourth quarter after trailing as much as 27 early in the second half, Tatum ended any notion of a comeback by winning a one-on-one match against Dallas star guard Luka Doncic.
Doncic drove to the basket with just over two minutes to go and raised for a slam just to be vigorously denied by Tatum. The Celtics started from Tatum’s key block and Jaylen Brown pocketed a 3-pointer to put the game out of reach for good.
It was a sensational defensive play by Tatum that saw the two MVP leaders exchange a few words of respect and Tatum revealed what he was saying to his opponent in that moment after the win.
“Everyone knows how talented he is and how special he is,” Tatum told ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth after the win. “He can do so many things on the pitch. Someone I respect and enjoy competing against. I told him I have to block it. He said, ‘Do you think I can dip?’ I said, “You’re big enough. Maybe you got it.” We just had fun competing.”