The Boston Celtics were blown out 122-84 in Game 4 of the 2024 NBA Finals by the Dallas Mavericks, but spirits still seem quite high in their camp. A video recently went viral on X of Kristaps Porzingis mocking Jayson Tatum by mimicking his jump shot during practice.
https://twitter.com/CelticsUnite18/status/1802408419669741954
Sam Hauser certainly found that quite hilarious, and Tatum’s form does look a bit weird. It didn’t stop the five-time All-Star from being a dominant force on the court in recent seasons, but he is struggling with his shot in the Finals.
Tatum is averaging 20.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game against the Mavericks while shooting 36.5% from the field and 29.0% from beyond the arc. The threes, in particular, have just not fallen for the 26-year-old throughout these playoffs.
Tatum’s ugly-looking form and shooting struggles have led to shooting coach Drew Hanlen coming under fire off late. The Celtics star spoke glowingly of Hanlen just over a week ago, though.
“I give Drew a lot of credit for my development and helping me get to where I’m at,” Tatum said. “I started working with Drew when I was in eighth grade and every offseason since then, we’ve worked out together. That’s like family. I’ve said it a million times that Drew is a big reason in helping me get to where I’m at.”
I asked Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum the role that Coach Drew Hanlen has played in his development over the years ahead of Game 2 of the NBA Finals. @DrewHanlen @PureSweat pic.twitter.com/7ARJ60KiV0
— Eduardo Villalpando (@eduardo_vhmx) June 8, 2024
Well, safe to say Tatum won’t be pointing fingers at Hanlen for his struggles in the Finals. You’d think that at some point, the shots have to start falling for him. The team would be hoping that’s the case in Game 5, as they look to close out the series and win a record 18th NBA championship.
Kristaps Porzingis’ Status For Game 5
While Tatum will be playing in Game 5, it is unclear whether Porzingis will. The Latvian suffered a torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in Game 2 which caused him to miss Game 3. Porzingis did suit up for Game 4 but didn’t play and head coach Joe Mazzulla was asked about his status for Game 5.
“I haven’t talked to him yet, we’re going to talk about that before we start at like two,” Mazzulla said. “So, I’m not sure kind of where he is at, but he’s trying. He’s doing everything he can to try to put himself in a position to be out there. I know that for sure.”
Joe Mazzulla on Kristaps Porzingis:
“He’s trying. He’s doing everything he can to try and put himself in a position to be out there. I know that for sure.” pic.twitter.com/ZjRARk22gP
— Justin Turpin (@JustinmTurpin) June 16, 2024
A few hours after this press conference, the Celtics listed Porzingis as questionable on their injury report. Prior to Game 4, Mazzulla had stated that the 28-year-old would only be available for very specific instances and I’d expect that to be the case here too.
With the Mavericks jumping out to a big lead fairly early on, those instances almost certainly never came up in Game 4. It wouldn’t have made much sense to send Porzingis out on the court at any point after the first quarter in that game.
If Game 5 proves to be a close back-and-forth contest, then perhaps we will see Porzingis get some game time. In the two games that he did play against the Mavericks, the big man averaged 16.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 0.5 assists, and 2.5 blocks in limited minutes.
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