Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Paul Pierce lining up Dirk Nowitski. Steve Nash and Jason Kidd facing off at the point. Jayson Tatum and Bradley Beal’s battles may go down in the same breath as those legendary battles. As Tatum and Beal ascend to All NBA form — their first matchup of 2021 immediately felt important when the two sized each other up on defense.
Tatum stripped Beal for an early basket, one of two Celtics breakout baskets with two more into fouls of the first quarter. Beal later landed an aggressive blocked that planted Tatum’s behind in the green paint below as Beal raced to a left-handed layup on the other end.