Eddie House has great reaction to Tatum's incredible Game 6 finish originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
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Jayson Tatum saved the Boston Celtics' season Thursday night -- after nearly ruining it.
Tatum was abysmal through three quarters of a must-win Game 6 against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center, with just three points on 1 of 13 shooting (0 for 6 from 3-point range) entering the final 12 minutes.
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Then Tatum miraculously came alive, scoring 16 points in the fourth quarter while hitting four 3-pointers to help Boston surge to a 95-86 victory and force a Game 7.
Tatum's roller-coaster performance had former Celtics guard Eddie House making Biblical references on NBC Sports Boston's "Celtics Postgame Live."
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"Jayson Tatum came through like Jesus," House said. "He wasn't there when we called, but he's always on time, and he was definitely on time tonight.
"We were calling for him. We were asking for him. He delivered in the biggest of moments when your season was on the brink of failure. It was going to be a failure, and it could have been on your back, the reason why you failed. But he turned it around (and was) resilient."
Tatum has struggled with his shot throughout the series, and if the Celtics lost Game 6, he would have taken a wave of criticism for coming up short when his team needed him most. But the 25-year-old showed remarkable mental toughness by not only staying in the game, but stepping up in crunch time to outscore the Sixers by himself in the fourth quarter (16 to 13).
"Humbly, I'm one of the best basketball players in the world," Tatum told ESPN's Cassidy Hubbarth after the game. "Go through struggles, go through slumps -- it's a long game, and thankful I've got some great teammates that held it down ... and they all trusted me. They told me to keep taking good looks, it's going to fall. Keep impacting the game in other ways. And all that matters is that we won this game."
Tatum's heroics set up a winner-take-all Game 7 in Boston on Sunday. Check out the Postgame Live crew's full reaction to Tatum's performance in the video above.
