What Drake Maye Told Jayson Tatum Before Celtics’ Game 1 Win

Jayson Tatum chopped it up with another household name in the New England sports scene Tuesday night at TD Garden.

The Celtics star met up with Drake Maye before Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. Maye, who has been ingratiating himself into the area since last month’s NFL draft, was on hand for a thriller that saw Boston defeat the Indiana Pacers in overtime.

But before the C’s secured their fourth straight playoff win, Tatum had a quick exchange with Maye outside the Boston locker room. In addition to general pleasantries, the New England Patriots quarterback informed the five-time All-Star that his old brother, Luke, guarded Tatum in the North Carolina product’s first start with the Tar Heels back in 2017.

Maye proceeded to witness another solid postseason outing from Tatum, who overcame a handful of mistakes to help the Celtics take another step toward the NBA Finals. The 26-year-old was the series opener’s highest scorer (36 points) and led all players in plus-minus rating (+20) by a considerable margin.

Tatum now will try to bring Boston to within two wins of the championship stage Thursday night when he and his team host the Pacers for Game 2. Tipoff from TD Garden is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.