Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) and forward Jayson Tatum (0). Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum on verge of surpassing iconic Celtics duo

By Sai Mohan | Last updated 5/22/24

When it's all said and done, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum could go down as the most decorated duo in Celtics history. That would be quite the accomplishment for a franchise featuring duos such as Bill Russell and Bob Cousy , Larry Bird and Kevin McHale and Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

By pouring in 26 and 36 points, respectively, in Tuesday's Game 1 win over the Pacers, Brown and Tatum scored over 25 points in the same playoff game for the 16th time in their careers. They are now just one such game away from equaling McHale and Bird, who scored over 25 in the same game on 17 occasions.

Most Playoff games by a duo with 25+ points
in Celtics history:

— Bird & McHale (17)
— Tatum & Brown (16) pic.twitter.com/y3Iv9OsW7n
— CelticsMuse (@CelticsMuse) May 22, 2024

Seeing as the ongoing Pacers-Celtics series has the makings of a high-scoring affair, there's a realistic chance of the J's surpassing McHale and Bird over the next few games.

While the milestone would warrant a celebration, the Celtics have bigger fish to fry. The Joe Mazzulla-led squad is at a point now where none of those records would mean a thing if they don't amount to a championship.

Boston's inability to get over the hump in the Brown-Tatum era has been one of the reasons neither player has received the accolades or awards that some of their peers have been adorned with.

"They are window-shopping greatness," Shannon Sharpe said on ESPN's "Get Up" earlier this week. "When are you going to go in and purchase it? I don't want to hear anything about Jayson Tatum being only 25 and going to these many conference finals. At some point in time, you've got to kick the door and go inside. If they do not win the championship this year, it is a failure of epic proportion."

Boston (-160) is currently the odds-on favorite to win it all over Minnesota (+240), Dallas (+500) and Indiana (+2800) — the other three teams still standing in the postseason.

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