A big talking point during the 2024 NBA Finals has been the drop that we have seen in terms of scoring from Jayson Tatum. The Boston Celtics superstar has instead been playmaking a lot more than what we are accustomed to, and after Game 2, he explained it is down to the Dallas Mavericks’ defensive strategy.
“I mean, every time I take a couple of dribbles, there’s like three people right there,” Tatum said. “We’ve got a bunch of shooters on our team and guys that can space the floor. They kept leaving Jrue open, so it wasn’t like I had to do anything spectacular. It was just about finding the open guy.”
"Every time I take a couple dribbles, there's like 3 people"
Jayson Tatum explains his decision to be more of a playmaker this series and why he doesn't need to score the ball much pic.twitter.com/bewLUpEhGQ
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) June 10, 2024
The Mavericks’ defense has keyed in on Tatum in this series and he has responded by setting up his teammates for some easy makes instead of forcing things. Jrue Holiday was the recipient of many of Tatum’s assists in Game 2 and ended up recording a team-high 26 points to help the Celtics come away with a 105-98 win.
As for Tatum, he had 18 points, 9 rebounds, 12 assists, and 1 steal in the contest as the Celtics took a 2-0 lead. It was a fine all-around showing, with the only negative being that the 26-year-old shot 6-22 from the field.
Tatum has to be more efficient when he does score and he acknowledged as much postgame as well. The five-time All-Star has only shot 35.1% from the field in the series but his all-around game has somewhat made up for that, as he is averaging 17.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game.
Jayson Tatum Is Focused On Dominating With His Defense, Passing, And Rebounding
While a lot of superstars would not be all that pleased about their scoring numbers going down, Tatum said he is focusing on dominating the game in other ways than scoring.
“I’d love to have back some of those layups I missed and the open threes. Law of averages says they’ll come back. But my focus right now is how can I dominate the game in other ways. My defense, my passing, my rebounding. That’s what I’m focused on.”
With all the attention that Tatum has been getting from the Mavericks’ defense, trying to impact the game in other ways does make perfect sense. I believe, though, that in these next two games in Dallas, the Celtics will need their superstar to step it up as a scorer.
Role players and even a lot of All-Star caliber ones just tend to play a lot better at home. Almost every player on the Celtics impressed in the two games in Boston, but I am fairly sure that won’t be the case in Dallas.
If and when that supporting cast fails to deliver, Tatum will have to be the one to lead the Celtics to victory in a very hostile environment. He has, of course, done that plenty of times in his career, but just not in the Finals.
Would Tatum be able to pull that off? I believe he is fully capable of doing it and if he does, he will almost certainly win Finals MVP as well.
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