Just below 72 hours in the past, Jayson Tatum sank his first game-winning bucket since 2023 to push the Boston Celtics previous the Toronto Raptors. That second was met with pleasure from Celtics followers and jest from a nationwide standpoint.
Nobody was speaking concerning the shot, they have been commenting about how the NBA’s two-minute report stated that he had traveled on the play.
Even when he’s nice, Tatum doesn’t appear to get credit score.
How did he reply?
By giving the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers 33 factors and their first lack of the season.
The 26-year-old scored bucket after bucket to spearhead Boston’s offense. This wasn’t only a “sizzling taking pictures evening” both. No, Tatum took initiative and put stress on Cleveland’s protection by getting himself to the rim. There could also be no higher model of Tatum than “aggressive Tatum.”
That aggressiveness earned him a number of shut seems to be on the cup and 7 journeys to the free-throw line.
Although the willingness to drive was nice, it definitely doesn’t damage when JT has it going from deep like he did Tuesday evening. He drilled 60% of his makes an attempt from distance, together with this third-quarter buzzer-beater the place he put Georges Niang on the ground.
Tatum accompanied his scoring outburst with 12 boards, seven assists, and a pair of steals. It was a well-rounded counterpunch to his haters, to say the least.
That well-roundedness is what stood out to Cs head coach Joe Mazzulla.
“It was extra vital to get our drive-and-kick reads,” he stated of the play of his stars. “They usually (Tatum and Jaylen Brown) did an important job. They did an important stability of dealing with the stress, driving to assault, driving to get to the free throw line, and driving to seek out guys. So the extra I hope groups proceed to be bodily as a result of it simply will get us reps… They dealt with it rather well.”
If you wish to discuss drive-and-kick reads, look no additional than this wonderful discover within the clutch by JT.
Tatum constantly made Cleveland’s protection pay in the event that they overcommitted to him. He had an analogous cross to the one above within the first half; it simply went to an open Al Horford as an alternative.
For him, all of it boils right down to crew chemistry and making the precise reads.
“We’ve been in so many moments collectively, so many huge video games that we don’t do something spectacular,” he stated after the win. “We simply do the straightforward issues. We do the precise learn on a regular basis, or more often than not, whether or not it’s a Cup sport or common season sport or, you already know, within the Finals, we all know the place one another is meant to be. We work on reads on a regular basis in observe, and no matter how the sport goes or the photographs are falling, it is all about making the precise learn, and you already know, the sport will reward that.”
The robust response to the weekend of criticism shouldn’t be a shock as Tatum primarily did the identical factor on Opening Night time towards the New York Knicks.
He spent a whole summer time being criticized for having an “straightforward path” to his first NBA title, being corny whereas he celebrated the achievement, having “no aura,” after which spending a superb period of time watching from the sidelines as he earned his second Olympic Gold Medal with Group USA.
Tuesday’s pacifying efficiency towards the Cavs was simply one other chapter within the lengthy novel about Tatum’s character. When the second is huge, there’s merely no motive for any of us to consider that he gained’t come to play.
