Jayson Tatum is one of the cornerstones of the Boston Celtics, but he has struggled from the field so far in the 2021-22 NBA season. There was a lot of promise for the 23-year-old, especially with the photos of him bulking up before the start of the year.
Unfortunately, Tatum has been surprisingly underwhelming from the field, enough to spark a reaction from Marcus Smart on the need for him to pass the ball more. Although he is leading the Celtics in scoring, his efficiency is at an all-time low.
As things stand, Tatum is one of six players since the introduction of the shot clock in 1954 that has shot below 40% from the field on 20+ attempts.
According to StatMuse, one of the reliable basketball data aggregators, the other five players are; Dolph Shayes, Michael Adams, Allen Iverson, Antoine Walker, and Baron Davis.
Jayson Tatum shot 2-16 tonight.
He is 8th in the league in made shots despite being 1st in attempts.
Tatum is shooting 39.5% on 21.8 attempts per game — only 5 players have shot below 40% on 20+ attempts per game in a whole season since the shot clock era (1954). pic.twitter.com/08AjNjUdmE
— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 29, 2021
With Tatum shooting 2-of-16 from the field last night despite playing 37 minutes, his field goal average dropped to 39.5%. Tatum is a top scorer, but the shooting stroke is not there so far this season.
The youngster will need to stop forcing things, even though he is expected to lead the C’s to another playoff run. He has the most attempts so far in the league but ranks 8th in made shots.
It is worth pointing out that this is the first time Tatum has ranked below 40% in his five-year career. He is also recording a career-high average in field goal attempts with 21.8 per game.
The Boston Celtics currently rank 9th in the Eastern Conference standings with an 11-10 run. Thanks to Marcus Smart’s 21-point game, they were able to hold off the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena.
Tatum is averaging 24.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game with an effective field goal percentage of .456. He has featured in all 21 games for the Celtics and has had a few good games. Without him, the C’s might not be over the .500 mark.
