The Boston Celtics defeated the Brooklyn Nets 125-124 in overtime on Tuesday night at TD Garden. Jayson Tatum led the way for Boston multiple fronts. From a purely statistical standpoint, he delivered a historic performance, putting up 40 points, eight assists and no turnovers. Only he and Larry Bird have ever put up those statlines.

From a bigger picture standpoint, he delivered the win in overtime by hitting the game-winning shot from just inside the 3-point line.

Through four games, Tatum is playing at a superstar level, similar to how he played before his torn Achilles in 2024-25. He's also doing all he can to replace the production vacated by Jaylen Brown, who was dealt to the Philadelphia 76ers in the offseason.

Tatum is averaging 28.0 ppg and eight assists to go along with 6.3 rebounds. The only negative for him so far in the young season? His three-point shooting, which is currently down at 24.1 percent. His career average is 36.8 percent.

Obviously, early season numbers are always skewed because of small sample sizes, but it's worth it to note the decreased percentage. It's also fair to note that he's attempting 7.3 three's per night, which is his lowest number of 3's attempted per game since 2019-20. He's shooting 14.3 two-pointers per game, which is the highest number of his career.

Both things are fair to say:

1) Tatum needs to shoot better from beyond the arc if the Celtics are going to hit their optimum level offensively.

2) Also, from a curiosity standpoint: Is Tatum shooting more two-pointers simply because he's struggling from three early? Or, is this part of a concerted effort to get to the basket and the mid-range more? Obviously, we have 78 games to figure out the answers to that questions, but it will be interesting to see if that's a trend or an early season anomaly.

The Celtics will kick off the "NBA Cup," on Friday night when they host the Chicago Bulls. The two teams just played each other, with the Celtics winning by 35 points. The "NBA Cup" is in the NBA's in-season tournament, something that NBA commissioner Adam Silver developed with inspiration from European soccer.

The Bulls have struggled in the early going, and they entered play on Wednesday at 1-3. However, they are playing the New York Knicks and have a chance to improve that record.