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Celtics Veteran Amazed At This One Jayson Tatum Development

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jay Postrado | Last updated Apr 30, 2025 7:53 AM ET

The Boston Celtics pride themselves on a great development program. They can claim all of that because of how insane Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum became as the duo led them to the Larry O'Brien trophy in 2024. But the latter still has so much growth in him, and Al Horford knows that.

Jayson Tatum clearly wants to prove himself during the Celtics' NBA Playoffs run. He had an insane 35-point outburst against the Orlando Magic to bounce them out of the postseason.

While many think that the Celtics star is already at the peak of his powers, Al Horford noted that he saw something in Tatum that was out of the ordinary in this series. The Florida Gators alum noted it after their 120-89 win, via Jay King of The Athletic.

“The things that impressed me most about him are that time and time again, when it’s time to finish off a series and get a dub, he goes to another level. Tonight it was impressive to see him. We get to a certain point, and he knows what to do and kind of takes over," Horford said.

The Celtics were eager to close out this NBA Playoffs series against the Magic. This was so that they could prepare for the second round against either the Detroit Pistons or the New York Knicks. So, Tatum delivered, and Horford was left stunned by the star's performance.

“That was pretty special to see him making play after play, whether it was him shooting it, him passing it, on the defensive end, all over the place. So, pretty impressive the way he closed it for us," the Florida alum added.

Tatum is out to prove that he is worthy of the Eastern Conference Finals MVP and NBA Finals MVP award. The Celtics are likely going to be very glad that this is his motivation as he continues to pop off in the postseason.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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