Jayson Tatum wants to win more than he wants to pursue massive scoring totals.
The Boston Celtics standout has an eye toward the greater goal.
This season, Luka Doncic scored 73 points. Embiid Joel had seventy. It’s possible to score 81 points against Kobe Bryant, and it feels more feasible than ever to surpass Wilt Chamberlain’s previously unachievable 100 points.
Thus, many took notice when Jayson Tatum scored 16 points in the first quarter of Tuesday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets. And alarms went out when he tied it with a 15-point second place finish. There was a 60-bomb involved, at the very least.
Viewers desired to see history.
Tatum wasn’t really excited to go.
Tatum declared that he was not tempted to go for a big scoring night. I’ve experienced a good number of 50s. I previously received a 60. I am confident that I could. However, all that needs to be done is experiment with rhythm.
Tatum received the ball in the corner during the Boston Celtics’ opening possession of the second half. He received the ball from Jrue Holiday, who also set up a screen. Tatum’s guard, Ben Simmons, crossed the screen and pursued his man. However, Cam Thomas stopped the drive and scooped him up as well.
Holiday took a step back and discovered that he was wide open from three. He drained a triple to give the Celtics a lead of 18. Although the pass wasn’t particularly good, Tatum’s presence alone opened up a shot.
Tatum’s dominance persisted throughout the quarter, albeit it wasn’t always evident as an assist.
Tatum was handling the ball on the wing again in the middle of the third quarter. Al Horford installed a screen, and Tatum was turned on by Nicolas Claxton. Holiday then approached to serve as his screener.
Claxton hesitated to get in the way of Holiday in the hoop as Thomas applied pressure to Tatum on the screen. He had his sights set on Tatum. Holiday took the ideal position to body Claxton and let Tatum dump the ball inside.
The defense crumbled after he got it, and Holiday found Derrick White free on the other wing for a three-pointer that he nailed.
I was handling the ball a lot more and just trying to manipulate the defense in the second half because I came out [with] the knowledge [that] they would guard me differently or come hitch,” Tatum said.
I would throw it over the top as guys were creating screens and getting behind the defense. I was simply looking for ways to have more of an impact on the game than just scoring, regardless of whether they scored or not, or kicked it out for a hockey assist.
Tatum can score goals. It is and probably always will be his most valuable possession. He had more 30-point games than Larry Bird has through the first seven seasons of their respective careers. He has scored 60 points in the regular season, 50 points in the playoffs.
But as he’s continued to grow as a player, Tatum has expanded his skillset. He’s averaging a career-high 4.7 assists this season. And on a team with as much talent as this Celtics group has, his improved playmaking has never been more important.
His development in terms of only receiving what the defense offers him, according to head coach Joe Mazzulla. His recent shot selection has been excellent, in my opinion. His ability to assess and manipulate the defense has shown me that he has been very patient over the last several games. He’s just becoming better and better at the game, and you saw that tonight, in my opinion.
Tatum has accepted the task of researching defenses and becoming ready for shifting coverage.
About Tatum’s greatest area of improvement in reading defenses, Mazzulla remarked, “Just patience and poise, just understanding.” “Tonight, I might get doubled, they might… they might front, they might press up on me,” is something I believe requires being open-mined.
Thus, I believe it will merely take an open mind to realize that every night his defenses will change. And during the game, he’s picking up on that rapidly and taking advantage of it. He is therefore having fun researching the defenses.
All-NBA wing Jaylen Brown. Holiday was an All-Star the previous season and currently ranks 11th in the NBA in three-point shooting. In every category, White is reaching career-high performance levels. One-time All-Star Kristaps Porzingis is enjoying his most productive season to date.
Teams still double Tatum, though.
Boston played Brooklyn for the whole first half, trying to equal Tatum and Thomas. Tatum would be allowed to resume work once they screened him until he found the desired mismatch. He scored thirty-one points.
However, Tatum relied on his Spider-Men crew to do the job when the Nets changed up their defense to put extra pressure on the star player from the Celtics.
That simply reflects who he is,” Mazzulla remarked. Above all, he is motivated to win. That’s what [he] is all about. That was his choice. And as a player, I believe that’s part of his development.
He knows he needs to give it his all for us each night, but how that appears varies each time. He played like a true individual brilliance in the first half, and I felt his manipulation of the defense in the second half was even more indicative of greatness.
Even when a guy have the opportunity to score sixty points, winning is much more than just individual performance.
Mazzulla praised the player’s “ability and character to find different ways to be among the best on the floor, empower his teammates, and understand that it takes a team to get where we want to go, and he truly understands that.” Thus, it’s entertaining to watch.
The Celtics now lead the East by six games and have a four-game advantage over all other NBA teams after their victory against the Nets. They are on track to record their highest regular season win % since winning the championship in 2008.
The Celtics are a group of All-Stars that are prepared to set aside their individual brilliance in order to advance the team’s chances of winning a championship. Furthermore, Tatum is the snake’s head.
Tatum stated, “It’s just about playing in the flow.” We have a pretty strong team, and we may have two or three advantages at any given possession. It won’t always be me by myself. I just need to realize it and that I depend on my colleagues. I require everyone’s help. Everybody depends on everyone other. Thus, we must all spread the love.
