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Horry Scale: Jayson Tatum beats buzzer, Raptors with deep 3-pointer in OT
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Horry Scale: Jayson Tatum beats buzzer, Raptors with deep 3-pointer in OT

Jayson Tatum redeems himself with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to lift Celtics past Raptors in overtime.

A reminder on The Horry Scale: It divides a game-winning buzzer-beater (GWBB) into the categories of difficulty, game situation (was the team tied or behind at the time?), importance (playoff game or garden variety night in November? ) and party. Then we give it an overall rating on a scale of 1-5 Robert Horrys, named after the patron saint of last-second answered prayers.

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On a second chance, Jayson Tatum scored in the nick of time.

With the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors tied at the end of regulation, Tatum’s defender fell to the ground, leaving him wide open for 15 feet from the top of the key. He didn’t hit anything but the backboard.

Tatum got another chance in overtime on a broken play and knocked down a 30-footer as time expired, giving Boston a dramatic 126-123 overtime victory.

GAME SITUATION: With the score tied at 123-123, the Celtics called a timeout with 20 seconds left after Neemias Queta blocked RJ Barrett’s layup attempt. After the timeout, Tatum ran out the clock and looked for Jaylen Brown, who was pushed to the ground by Davion Mitchell. With no foul called, Tatum was stranded beyond the three-point line with four seconds left. He had no choice but to take the long, contested jumper.

DIFFICULTY: On an island with a few seconds left on the clock, Tatum had to improvise with Ochai Agbaji in his face. The Celtics star dribbled twice to create space and stepped back to launch the game winner with 0.4 on the clock. Although Tatum made it look easy, it wasn’t.

CELEBRATION: The crowd erupted as the Celtics’ PA announcer said, “JT FOR THREEE!” Meanwhile, Tatum’s momentum carried him away from the Boston bench, but it didn’t take long for his teammates to track him down. Al Horford was the first to arrive with a celebratory chest bump and the party had started at TD Garden.

FIGURE: After missing the potential game-winner at the end of regulation, Tatum gets points for redeeming himself in OT. No stranger to making big shots, JT rediscovered the moment, saved the Celtics from what would have been a tough loss and added to his legacy as one of the NBA’s top young stars. 3.5 Horries.