Is Jayson Tatum playing tonight against Toronto Raptors? Latest update on 4-time NBA All-Star's status (Dec. 29)
Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics will complete their back-to-back set with a home game vs the Toronto Raptors on Friday. The Celtics are coming off a tough home win over the Detroit Pistons in overtime on Thursday (122-128) and want to maintain the best record in the NBA (24-6).
Tatum flirted with the triple-double, as he had 31 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, along with five steals, on 11/31 shooting. Kristaps Porzingis erupted for a season-high 35 points for Boston, which forced the Pistons to their 28th straight loss this season. Detroit has won only twice in its first 31 games.
The Celtics have released their injury report for Friday's game, and Jayson Tatum is ruled out to play against the Raptors. Boston's megastar played in 29 of the team's first 30 games with averages of 27.0 ppg, 8.4 rpg and 4.4 apg, on 34.0 percent from beyond the arc
Boston wants to stay undefeated against Toronto this season. The two franchises have faced each other twice so far with the Celtics winning both games on November 11 (94-117) and November 17 (108-105), respectively.
Jayson Tatum's stats vs. Toronto Raptors
Jayson Tatum joined the NBA in 2017 with the third overall pick and was selected by the Boston Celtics. He has played the Toronto Raptors 22 times in his career, averaging 18.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg and 3.7 apg, on 35.7 percent from beyond the arc.
The Celtics will need his scoring on Friday to move to 3-0 vs Toronto this season and extend their home winning streak to 16 games. Boston has been the only undefeated team at home so far with an impressive 15-0.
The franchise will need three more wins to set a new record for consecutive wins at home at the start of the season. The current record is 17 wins in a row and it was set by Boston back in 1957.
For their part, the Raptors continue to struggle with just 12 wins after their first 30 games. Toronto has won just three times over the last 10 games and got back on track on Wednesday following their blowout road win over the Washington Wizards (132-102).
Toronto is looking for some consistency that will let the franchise climb higher in the East standings and maintain a playoff push. Still, they will need to show their character as they are scheduled to play only once at home over their next nine games.