Duke basketball product posterizes fellow MVP frontrunner

After falling two spots to No. 3 on the NBA.com MVP Ladder, former Duke basketball one-and-done Jayson Tatum responded by putting the superstar who supplanted him at No. 1, Giannis Antetokounmpo, on a poster. And he did so on the league's grandest regular-season stage: Christmas Day.

Tatum fueled a 139-118 home win for the Boston Celtics (24-10) over Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks (22-11) with his 41 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals in 36 minutes on the floor.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, his six 40-point games for the 2022-23 Celtics already mark the most in his career and tie for the most by any player this season. Furthermore, the 24-year-old Tatum became the youngest player to record a 40-burger on Christmas Day since Kevin Durant dropped 44 as a 22-year-old in 2010.

In making a solid case to return to the front of the MVP race, his dominance for the day was on full display during one statement play midway through the second quarter. As one can see in the highlight below, Tatum's give-and-go with Marcus Smart set up an opportunity to posterize Antetokounmpo. Safe to say he delivered with authority:

TATUM PUNCHED IT ON GIANNIS 🤯 pic.twitter.com/eTBwfzFOIt
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 25, 2022

Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP (2019, 2020), finished the battle for the NBA's best record with 27 points, nine rebounds, and three assists in 35 minutes. Meanwhile, the Duke basketball alum in the Bucks' starting lineup, Grayson Allen, went 0-for-3 from deep yet tallied eight points, three rebounds, one assist, and one steal in 29 minutes.

But back to Jayson Tatum. As Celtics in-house analyst/reporter Marc D'Amico pointed out in the following tweet, the sixth-year pro's MVP candidacy sure looks solid in the head-to-head department:

Can we talk about what @jaytatum0 has done to every other MVP candidate this season?

41/7/5 vs Giannis (W)
25/5/2 vs Booker (W)
29/11/1 vs Durant (W)
37/13/5 vs Luka (W)
34/8/5 vs Jokic (W)
39/3/2 vs Morant (W)
35/12/4 vs Embiid (W) pic.twitter.com/M5VP8sgxRD
— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) December 26, 2022

The Boston Celtics, who recently surprisingly lost five of six games, have now won two straight and will look to make it three in a row when they host the struggling Houston Rockets (9-23) at 7:30 p.m. ET Tuesday.

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