When four-time All-NBA Boston Celtics power forward Jayson Tatum scored his seventh and eighth points against the Atlanta Hawks in the ongoing Emirates NBA Cup game against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night, he further placed himself among the franchise’s all-time legends.

According to the NBC Sports Boston broadcast of the game, Tatum’s 12,196 career points (and counting) move him into 12th all-time among Boston’s top scorers entering his eighth professional season, ahead of Hall of Fame combo forward Tommy Heinsohn’s 12,194 over nine seasons. championship run. Three-time All-Star power forward Antoine Walker’s 11,386 and Tatum’s All-Star teammate Jaylen Brown’s 10,222 career points round out the club’s top 15.

Tatum will no doubt soon pass another Hall of Famer Celtics legend, eight-time All-Star shooting guard Bill Sharman, who Tatum currently leads by just 91 points. Considering the 6-foot-1 former Duke Blue Devil could accomplish this feat within the next three games.

He is averaging 30.5 points on .465/.367/.798 shooting splits, 7.6 rebounds and 5.0 assists through his first eleven games with the club. Always a pretty prodigious scorer and enthusiastic defender, the five-time All-Star seems to have made a leap this year and emerged as a bona fide MVP candidate this season.

Seven-time All-Star point guard Jo Jo White is tenth, with 13,188 career points. The Hall of Fame point guard won two championships with Boston from 1969 to 1979 before spending his final two NBA seasons with the Golden State Warrior and the then-Kansas City Kings.

Brown’s 16 points get the Celtics through a quarter. Boston leads marginally against a very battered club from Atlanta, 31-29. The reigning Finals MVP has scored these 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field (1-for-4 from deep) and 3-for-4 shooting from the charity stripe, plus two rebounds. Tatum’s eight points come on inefficient 2-for-6 shooting from the floor (1-for-4 from long range) and 3-for-3 shooting from the foul line. He also scored four rebounds and an assist.

The Celtics have a sizable 5-0 lead in fastbreak points so far, while the Hawks’ Trae Young free offense has predictably thrived as a passing team, holding a 10-6 advantage.

Boston and Atlanta are in East Group A for this year’s NBA Cup festivities, alongside the 12-0 Cleveland Cavaliers, scrappy Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. Chicago and Atlanta represent the two fastest clubs in the league, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem for a club as athletic and defensive as the defending champions.

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