Eastern Conference Recaps, Jan. 7: Jayson Tatum's 34 Points Leads Celtics Past Spurs

Jayson Tatum’s name has been included in MVP conversations and he has every intention to keep it that way. He scored 34 points to lead the Boston Celtics to a 121-116 win against the San Antonio Spurs. But it was a one-legged jumper over Romeo Langford which sealed the deal.

“I’m actually glad the game went like that for us,” Celtics’ interim coach Joe Mazzulla said. “We needed a game like that, to where it’s back and forth. Things aren’t going our way; they are going our way. You just don’t get a lot of those. It’s easier to say that because we won, but I’m happy the game went the way it did because we got to execute some stuff.”

Jaylen Brown scored 29 points while Malcolm Brogdon led the bench with 23. Tre Jones had 18 for the Spurs while Zach Collins and Josh Richardson had the same.

NEXT CELTICS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Jan. 24 at Miami

OTHER NOTES:

-Zach LaVine scored 36 points and DeMar DeRozan had 35 while the Chicago Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz 126-118. LaVine also had six 3-pointers after hitting 11 on Friday. Lauri Markkanen led the Jazz with 28 points while Jordan Clarkson had 18.

NEXT BULLS GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Mar. 18 in Chicago

NEXT JAZZ GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Mar. 13 at Miami

-With Klay Thompson out to rest, the Orlando Magic took advantage of it while beating the Golden State Warriors 115-101. Paolo Banchero led the way with 25 points while Franz Wagner had 24. Anthony Lamb scored a career-high 26 off the bench for the Warriors.

“It was unbelievable. Being able to play with Iggy and Wiggs was awesome,” said Lamb.

Jordan Poole had 21 points while Donte DiVincenzo had 15.

NEXT MAGIC GAME AGAINST THE HEAT: Jan. 27 at Miami

Cory Nelson is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He attended Northern Virginia Community College. He can be reached at corymckenzienelson@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @CKenzyNelson. You can also check out his personal blog https://allball30.wordpress.com