Jayson Tatum was the only man fighting as the Golden State Warriors walked all over the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Tatum’s 28 points led his team in the game, but the Celtics were still short by 19 points in an incredibly frustrating game for the Boston role players that couldn’t get their shots to fall.
Tatum was the only consistent offensive threat in the game for the 17-time champions, but his presence on the floor was also punctuated by the Warriors definitively beating Boston. Plus-minus is often a misleading stat, but considering this was a 19-point loss in which Tatum played 40+ minutes, this is inexcusable.
Tatum had the worst plus-minus in an NBA Finals game ever with his -36 performance tonight. Big losses are something that all NBA greats have faced before, as Tatum took Kobe Bryant’s spot at no. 1 on this list that also sees names like LeBron James also feature.
Lowest +/- in an #NBAFinals game since 1996:
-36, Jayson Tatum (tonight)
-35, Tyler Herro in Game 1 of '20 Finals vs. LAL
-35, Kobe Bryant in Game 6 of '08 Finals vs. BOS
-34, Lamar Odom in Game 6 of '08 Finals vs. BOS
-32, LeBron James in Game 3 of '13 Finals vs. SAS#NBA
— Basketball Reference (@bball_ref) June 6, 2022
This was also the worst plus-minus of Tatum’s career, not a night that will fill Tatum with motivation before heading back home for Game 3. The Warriors exploited lineups with Tatum in them, so maybe Ime Udoka needs to figure out better rotations around his star player.
The score can’t tell the full story because Tatum was not nearly as bad as the plus-minus indicates, He had solid offense and defense this game, but periods with him on the floor were marked by the Warriors going on runs and not a lot of offensive help coming from other players.
At the end of the day, a loss is a loss and the history books are written the way they are. Tatum will hold this record until someone breaks it, but he should use it as fuel to motivate him for Game 3 instead of letting it break his confidence.
