Of all the spectacular plays that made in his 36-point Game 3 masterclass on Saturday night in the Eastern Conference Finals, Tatum's behind-the-back assist to with 1:11 left in regulation was the most special. With the down five points with less than 90 seconds remaining, Tatum came off a down screen from Horford on the left wing, caught a pass from Derrick White, and urgently attacked the paint with intent to score. With Aaron Nesmith on his left hip, Tatum took two powerful right-handed dribbles, driving deep into the paint.
As Tatum reached the restricted area in position to rise towards the rim, Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam jointly and aggressively collapsed under the basket to challenge any layup attempt from Tatum. It was a moment of textbook help defense from the , but sometimes great offense beats great defense. Rather than force a shot with three defenders draped on him, Tatum eschewed a shot attempt and instead whipped a no-look, behind-the-back bounce pass to Horford in the left corner for three, which Horford drained (his career-best seventh triple of the evening), cutting the Pacers' lead to two.
Jayson Tatum: All-Around Player More than any other offensive play by the Celtics in crunch time of Game 3, Tatum's beautiful assist to Horford deflated the Pacers, who had led by as many as eighteen points earlier in the contest. When asked in a post-game interview about Tatum's pass to Horford, Tatum's All-Star teammate, , gushed with admiration, declaring, "hang it.
