Jayson Tatum has Celtics as legit NBA title contenders

For Boston, this represented the team’s 14th win in its past 16 games after starting 25-25. It also comes on the heels of a victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, proving that these Celtics can go up against the big boys.

Jayson Tatum has Boston Celtics as legit NBA title contenders

Coming off his third consecutive NBA All-Star Game appearance, Tatum has been on a roll as of late. Prior to Sunday’s 54-point performance, he had taking on an even larger scoring role during Boston’s current hot streak.

• Jayson Tatum stats (past 15 games): 26.5 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 5.1 APG, 47% shooting

With Tatum acting as one of the best scorers in the game, the rest of Boston’s rotation has filled out pretty well. Jaylen Brown dropped 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting against Brooklyn — hitting what would end up being a dagger late in the fourth quarter.

Previously seen as a questionable long-term fit with Tatum, Brown has also turned it up big-time recently. The former Cal standout entered Sunday’s game averaging 29.1 points in his past nine outings. That’s simply remarkable.

As you can see, scoring has not been an issue for these Celtics during their current hot streak. That’s what makes them so dangerous given that we’re talking about a team that’s allowing the third-fewest points in the NBA and boasts the second-best defensive rating in the Association behind the Golden State Warriors.

Frustrated earlier in the season due to Boston’s defensive lapses, Marcus Smart had spearheaded a return to normalcy on defense prior to missing six games to injury back in January.

Upon his return, Boston has turned it up another level on defense. That includes giving up fewer than 100 points 10 times in the team’s past 18 games.

Even when Boston’s defense struggles like we saw against the Nets on Sunday, Tatum’s ability to go off has added another dimension to this team.

With the Eastern Conference race wide-open, Boston has looked like the best team over the past five weeks. If that continues down the stretch and into the playoffs, there’s no reason to believe that the Celtics can’t earn their first NBA Finals appearance since 2010.