Friday night in Boston marked the second time that Jayson Tatum has outperformed Luka Doncic this season, as the Boston Celtics routed the Dallas Mavericks for a 28-point blowout victory.

Tatum finished the game with 32-points, scoring 21 in the second half, recording 10-of-19 shooting from the field and 5-of-9 from deep. He also added a team-high eight rebounds and three assists in a team-high 37-minutes.

It was a slow start for Tatum, who only scored 11-points in the first half, but he allowed the game to come to him and was patient leading to his second half takeover. He scored 16-points in the third quarter and five in the fourth quarter, not allowing the Celtics to lose their grasp on the game.

Doncic may have finished this game with a 37-point, 12-rebound, 11-assist triple double, which is a better game than Tatum statistically, but Tatum had the more efficient and effective game, not to mention that he also outscored Doncic 21-14 in the second half.

On Jan. 22, when they last played each other in Dallas, Tatum finished with 39-points on 52.4 percent shooting while Doncic finished with 32-points on 40.0 percent shooting.

In the two games played against each other this season, Tatum is a plus-minus +44 while Doncic is plus-minus -33. He’s scored 71-points and the Celtics scoring differential is 37-points in those games.

NBA.com’s MVP Ladder showed Tatum ahead of Doncic in their latest ranking. Doncic is unable to outscore Tatum or lead his team to victory over the Celtics. So if Doncic is unable to beat the best player on the best team in the league, how is that MVP worthy?

The MVP Ladder is currently Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, with Tatum at No. 4 and Doncic at No. 5. It’s worth mentioning that this ranking came out on Friday morning, ahead of the Friday night matchup.

After the game, Tatum’s postgame interview was one of an MVP that is willing to do whatever is needed for his team to win.

“If KP cuts to the basket or if he pops back off a screen, or if JB has a mismatch, or we come down in transition and Al seeks out the mismatch at the block – if it calls for me to essentially pass the ball eight possessions in a row because that’s the right read, then you have to trust that that’s what’s going to help us win the game.”

The mindset of Tatum, the way he plays and is able to control the game when he needs to, it’s an MVP and championship caliber approach and he should be recognized for it.

In the remaining 23-games, Tatum will have more opportunities to showcase himself a top MVP candidate against Cleveland, Denver, and Phoenix in Boston’s next three games and against Milwaukee and OKC before the regular season ends.

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Photo Credit: Steven Senne, AP Photo