On Basketball column: Is Tatum's recent sudden surge a sign of things to come?

Apr. 15—Just when fans were ready to jump ship, the Boston Celtics go on their most impressive four-game win streak of the season to pull them right back on deck.

Don't get me wrong; the Green Team still has plenty left to prove. But their recent rise in overall play is certainly encouraging as they head down the regular season home stretch.

Beating the rejuvenated New York Knicks by two points and sneaking past the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves, in overtime no less, is one thing. But what they did on the road at Denver and Portland over the next two contests is worth celebrating. Those are two top-tier Western Conference squads, and beating them away from home makes it that much more impressive.

So what's been the secret recipe of late for a team that's always seemed capable of competing for a title, yet until this past week, was eons away from actually doing so?

Is it the collective increased energy and effort on the defensive end? Is it the elevated movement and flow offensively? What about their recent ability to close tight games they seemingly struggled to do so often throughout the current campaign?

All those things have undoubtedly played a role — but to me, the biggest thing has been the heightened efficiency, aggressiveness and adapted leadership shown from one Jayson Tatum.

For fans outside of Boston, Tatum has been eyed all season as a rising superstar and one of the more versatile one-on-one scorers the league has to offer. But anyone who's watched him play on a regular basis this season will tell you he's underperformed, at least to his standards, and that he can't be trusted as "the guy" to close games out.

Tatum's career path — yes, I'm aware he's only 23 — has often been compared to Carmelo Anthony this season. Now that's not a knock to Anthony, a future Hall of Famer who's revived his career in Portland (the 36-year-old dropped 25 points against Boston on Tuesday by the way). But despite Anthony's scoring prowess and sustained consistency, he's never won a championship and has never been able to carry a team to the promised land as the go-to guy.

Tatum, we hope, will blossom into a player that can not only rival Anthony's offensive expertise, but lead the Celtics to a championship. If his recent string of impressive outings is any indication, it appears as if he's turned the corner for greener pastures.

In his last 10 games alone, Tatum is averaging 29 points on 49 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent from distance. He dropped a career-high 53 points on 64 percent shooting with 10 boards in the win over Minnesota, and canned a huge step back triple over Blazers star CJ McCollum in the waning moments of a 32-point performance in the win on Tuesday.

Just last week, Tatum was heavily criticized on Twitter by former Celtic turned analyst Kendrick Perkins.

"Jayson Tatum, you got paid the big bucks! You have the body language and energy level of an underpaid player and it's hurtin' the team," Perk tweeted. "Time to step up and live up to your role, straight up."

Now there's no telling whether there's any correlation between that tweet and Tatum's recent and visible uptick in play, but it's certainly worth thinking about. Regardless, No. 0 is unquestionably playing at a new level of late, and shows no signs of slowing up.

It's also worth mentioning that Tatum had clearly struggled with the lingering effects of COVID-19, and on Tuesday he admitted to using an inhaler before games for the first time in his career. Perhaps the virus played a role in his prolonged lack of energy and efficiency.

"I take an inhaler before the game since I've tested positive," said Tatum. "This has kind of helped with that and opened up my lungs and, you know, I never took an inhaler before. So that's something different. I for sure feel better now than I did a month ago."

Tatum is at his best when he's attacking the basket or getting to his spot for a high percentage jumper. When he and the team struggled this year, Tatum was often settling for contested 3-balls or ill-advised looks early in the shot clock. Over the last three games, however, he's gotten to the free throw line for 16 (season-high), eight and 10 attempts. That alone is a sign of more aggressive and intelligent decision making.

Even Blazers superstar Damian Lillard is taking notice.

"As a player who's kind of been in that position where your role is getting bigger as each year goes by early in your career, with experience you get more comfortable," Lillard said after the Celtics win over he and the Blazers on Tuesday. "You got to give credit to him and his growth as a player."

At 29-26, the Celtics find themselves in the No. 5 seed in the East. They've gotten some super consistent play out of big man Robert Williams of late, Jaylen Brown continues to do his thing, Kemba Walker remains a viable scorer and distributer, and sooner rather than later new addition Evan Fournier will be back in the mix.

If Tatum can continue to impress and the supporting cast can follow suit, there's no reason Boston can't flip the script and climb the conference standings.

Nick Giannino can be reached at NGiannino@gloucestertimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGiannino_SN.