Jayson Tatum calls himself ‘one of the best basketball players in the world’ after awful first half

Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum had a sweet and simple explanation for how he managed to turn his game around after a horrible first half in Game 6 against the Philadelphia 76ers.

“Humbly, I’m one of the best basketball players in the world,” Tatum said in response to a question about how he maintained his confidence in the fourth quarter.

“I have some great teammates who held it back. (Malcolm) Brogdon, JB (Jaylen Brown), (Marcus) Smart, Al (Horford), they all trust me. They all tell me, “Keep looking good, it’s going to fall. Keep impacting the game in other ways.”‘

Tatum, who averaged 30.1 points in the regular season, never stopped shooting, even as the misses kept coming.

He missed 14 of his first 15 total shots from the floor and his ineffectiveness was a major reason why the Celtics couldn’t hold onto a 16-point lead early on.

He missed 14 of his first 15 total shots from the floor as he was incredibly ineffective early on

Marcus Smart saved the day by leading Boston by 22 points as Tatum struggled to shoot

Tatum missed all 10 shots, including five three-point attempts, in the first half as the Celtics led into the break by seven.

He ended up scoring a total of 19 points on 5-21 shots from the field, including 4-11 from three-point range and 5-5 from the foul line.

Despite Tatum’s late resurgence of play, Marcus Smart was the real star of the night as he led the team by 22 points to catch up from the failed duo of Tatum and Brown.

Smart shot 8-15 from the field, 3-8 from deep and 3-4 from the foul line.

Boston went on to win the game 95-86 and extend the series into what will be a hard-fought battle in Game 7.