In these playoffs, Jayson Tatum has made it clear that he’s joined the ranks of superstardom. After leading Boston to the 2nd seed in the East, his Celtics shocked the world by sweeping the Kevin Durant-led Nets in Round 1.
Against the Bucks in the Conference Semis, Tatum did well in the first two games, pouring in a combined 50 points. In Game 3, however, he dropped the ball big time.
He scored 11 points on just 4-19 shooting in a two-point loss.
Ass geat as Tatum has been, he was not immune to criticism after that horrendous performance. In fact, fans laid into him pretty harsh after the final buzzer.
https://twitter.com/zebulunulubez/status/1523065524464226305
Tatum man… remember this game and redeem yourself
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) May 7, 2022
The other reason Boston lost: Tatum stunk to the point that it started affecting his 2-way stuff. Matthews is doing a terrific job being annoying/physical/clingy on D. Celts need to solve this in Game 4 somehow. https://t.co/Y6dS89bHXu
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) May 7, 2022
https://twitter.com/ChrisPBaconMKE/status/1523064605475545094
Wait a minute…people were on this app comparing Jayson Tatum to Kawhi Leonard???
— Guru (@DrGuru_) May 7, 2022
This game was on Tatum
4/19 from the field. Stinker pic.twitter.com/Ij2JgQyvhs
— BSOLZ (@BSOLZ_) May 7, 2022
I can’t believe there are people who seriously believe Tatum is in the same tier as Kawhi 🤣 pic.twitter.com/KBQa2zvd0v
— DG (@DGSEZN) May 7, 2022
https://twitter.com/BangoBurner_/status/1523069940244250625
jayson tatum in game 3: pic.twitter.com/jJy0eokHgQ
— KAWKAWW (@TheBigestEagle) May 7, 2022
Tatum is rarely bad, but when he’s bad, he’s horrendous
— Cousin Larry OB ☘️🏆 (@AndrewDoxy) May 7, 2022
Tatum was awful, and there’s just no other way to say it. The focus for Boston should be on how to avoid a similar situation in Game 4.
With Wesley Matthews proving to be a pest defensively, the Cs will have to work out some kind of plan to get Tatum going.
According to head coach Ime Udoka, the key for Tatum is to just stop overthinking his actions on offense.
“He’s passing up open looks, overthinking it at times. Not to get too complicated, but they’re gonna sit back in the lane, you have your pull-ups. After the first quarter, one or two dribbles too many and kinda getting into the teeth of their defense. We gotta set screens and free these guys up, they can walk into the wide-open shots He over penetrated and got into the crowd a little bit. and started overthinking a little bit”
Ime Udoka on Jayson Tatum: "He's passing up open looks, overthinking it at times… over penetrating and got in to the crowd a little bit." pic.twitter.com/VQc6Jnt729
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) May 7, 2022
Despite the crushing defeat, the series isn’t yet over for Boston. On Monday, they will have a chance to tie things up at 2 wins apiece.
Obviously, they’ll need Tatum at his best if they want any shot of that outcome. But based on what we’ve seen from the superstar so far, there’s no reason to think he won’t bounce back in a huge way.
