Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum was heavily criticized for his poor play in the first two games of the Conference Semifinals against the New York Knicks. Tatum’s struggles contributed to the Boston Celtics going down 2-0, but they responded strongly with a 115-93 win in Game 3. In his press conference after the game, Tatum spoke about the criticism that comes his way from being “that guy.”
“You just understand what comes with being that guy,” Tatum said. “I live a great life, I ain’t going to lie. I make a lot of money, I take care of my family, I’ve been able to experience a lot of things, but you also have to accept what comes with that, right?
“I get a lot of praise, I get a lot of credit, I get a lot of accolades, but I’m not perfect,” Tatum stated. “And there’s times where I’ve needed to play better, I’ve needed to do more and that comes with being that guy. So, just understanding that people don’t just criticize me.
“There’s a lot of people that came before me that they criticized, and there’s going to be people that come after me that they criticize,” Tatum continued. “For me, it’s just a sense of joy that I play with. Coming into a game with an angry face and mad at the world, that’s not who I am. It’s not when I play my best.
“So I always say you’ve got to be the same person when things are going great and when things aren’t going great,” Tatum added. “You can’t switch up. It’s the character of a good man.”
Tatum had a strong finish to the first-round series against the Orlando Magic with three straight 35-point games. The 27-year-old then scored 13 points in the first quarter of Game 1 against the Knicks, and you couldn’t have imagined at that point that things were about to go horribly wrong.
Tatum would finish Game 1 with 23 points on 7-23 shooting from the field as the Celtics blew a 20-point lead to lose 108-105 in overtime. That was bad, but worse was to come.
Game 2 saw Tatum record 13 points on 5-19 shooting from the field as the Celtics again blew a 20-point lead to lose 91-90. The six-time All-Star had a chance at winning the game, but Mikal Bridges stole the ball from him to clinch victory for the Knicks.
Losses in the opening two games at home led to the Celtics finding themselves in must-win territory in Game 3 at Madison Square Garden. They went up big again, leading by as many as 31 points on the road, but ensured there was no Knicks comeback this time around to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Tatum had 22 points (8-20 FG), nine rebounds, seven assists, and two steals in the win. He still wasn’t quite at his best, but it was an improvement from the opening two games.
The Celtics are now very much back in this series, and it’s suddenly the Knicks who are under a bit of pressure. Another loss in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden on Monday at 7:30 PM ET would see them lose home-court advantage and hand over all the momentum to the Celtics.
