CLEVELAND — The first play of the second half of Game 3 was simple. Jayson Tatum gets the switch on Donovan Mitchell and attacks. Pedal to the metal, driving through the lane full speed to get the and-1.
Tatum had to do it. A few moments earlier, he had made a statement back in the locker room. Now it was time to back up his words.
“Just the intensity and energy level, his message was for us to keep the gas pedal down,” Luke Kornet told The Athletic after the Boston Celtics’ 106-93 win Saturday to take a 2-1 series lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers. “He kept everyone locked in and we were just talking about what we want to do with certain coverages. He really invigorated everyone and kept us locked in.”
Boston locked in and went on a 14-0 run out of halftime, blowing open the game and never letting Cleveland get all the way back in it. Tatum remembered all those times they let go of the rope early in the second half. So he spent halftime imploring his team to forget the success of the first half and pretend their backs were still against the wall.
“Just challenge everybody, myself, the starters — we’ve had a tendency in the past to relax coming out of the halftime,” Tatum said. “We’re usually winning coming out ahead of time. So just challenge the group. Can we come out like our back is against the wall? Can we make them call the first timeout? Can we come on like we’re down nine?”
It took less than two minutes for JB Bickerstaff to walk on the court in frustration and call that timeout. Even after it, the Celtics went on a 6-0 run. They never faded for more than a few possessions. There wasn’t a moment when Mitchell was running away with the game, even if he continues to score at a high volume with impressive efficiency.
They were targeting Mitchell deliberately, trying to wear him down defensively so that he wouldn’t have enough gas left in the tank in the fourth quarter. Sure enough, Mitchell went 1-for-4 in the final frame, as the Celtics kept their foot on the gas and Tatum kept attacking.
“There was a purpose behind every play,” Tatum said. “Didn’t always result in a bucket, but that’s part of it, we’re gonna miss some shots. I think we just did a really good job of communicating our late-game actions and what we were trying to accomplish.”
As Tatum kept missing in the fourth, he kept getting stops on defense and making daring passes to set up teammates. But with just over two minutes left, he found himself in a familiar spot he thought he had finally escaped.
In the first two games of this series, Tatum kept trying to attack Max Strus in the high post and failed just about every time. He found the adjustment in Game 3, bringing Strus down to the block where it was easier to get by him baseline.
But with a chance to close the game out, Strus was stonewalling him again. Then Tatum brought him baseline, spun and buried the fadeaway.
JT BEATS THE SHOT CLOCK 💰 pic.twitter.com/4nThvmTesB
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 12, 2024
It was an important bit of closure for the Celtics star. From the outside looking in, it may seem like Jayson Tatum is letting his team down. He is having his worst shooting stretch of his postseason career, then went 2-for-8 from deep Saturday.
At this point, the shooting isn’t getting better. Tatum said he knows it will come eventually, but he’s elevated his game to be the Celtics’ best rim protector and rebounder in the meantime.
“His fingerprints are everywhere on the game,” Kornet said. “I noticed especially today, his rebounding and contesting shots around the rim. When everybody has that mentality of whatever small thing it is, anyone has an off night on our team, we recognize all the ways they contribute to winning. He’s had an imprint on the series every game and he was awesome tonight.”
Tatum said he doesn’t want to be defined as just a scorer. He has grown as a playmaker and game manager over the past few years. But the Kristaps Porziņģis injury has put his growth as a defender front and center.
When they needed him to get in isolation, he swallowed up the ballhandler. He also gave Boston more freedom to switch smalls onto Evan Mobley because he could rotate to the rim so quickly to take the clean layups away.
“I know that we trust him so much on the offensive end, but defensively is really where I’m so impressed by him,” Jrue Holiday said. “Cause I don’t think he gets enough credit on the defensive end.”
The scrutiny of Tatum’s poor shooting has been in the spotlight, now that the field has narrowed. The number of emerging stars vying to become the next face of the league is coming down to Tatum and a few other names still fighting for the title.
There has been some Tatum fatigue over the years, as he has played 102 postseason games now and still hasn’t won the title. But for a 26-year-old, he’s in some rare company. This was his 11th 30-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist playoff game.
MOST PLAYOFF GAMES WITH 30+ PTS, 10+ REB, 5+ AST
49 LeBron James
20 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
19 Larry Bird
18 Nikola Jokic
15 Giannis Antetokounmpo
14 Wilt Chamberlain
14 Elgin Baylor
11 TATUM, Oscar, Barkley, Westbrook, Durant— Dick Lipe (@DickLipe) May 12, 2024
When it comes to holistic impact over the years, he’s already tied with Kevin Durant and not too far behind the other top players in the game. So he could easily lash out at the talking head media and the basketball journalists for questioning his veracity as a true leader of a championship-caliber team.
“I respect your guys’ job, I respect the guys on TV. I don’t always agree with the things that they say,” Tatum said. “When they’re fair, and they take emotion out of it, whatever way they’re leaning towards and they’re fair, I respect it. I understand what the media has brought to our game, and more eyes, and more attention, and how everybody has benefited from that. So I wouldn’t say I take it as disrespect, right?”
In the end, he’ll have to shoot well from deep if he is going to win. Even if he can carry Boston past Cleveland while shooting 25 percent from deep, some imposing teams are waiting out there on the road ahead. He won’t always be able to get downhill at will or stop everyone attacking the rim. Boston will see better teams and Tatum will need to be better.
But in every other regard besides shooting, this is as good as Tatum has been in his career.
“Yeah, I would love to make every shot I take, and I know I can shoot better, and I will,” Tatum said. “But at this time of the season, as long as we win and we’re trending in the right direction, I know me scoring will come. I’ve done that plenty of times. So I just try to impact the game in other ways and just dominate the game.”
(Photo of Jayson Tatum blocking a shot attempt by Donovan Mitchell in the fourth quarter Saturday night: Jason Miller / Getty Images)
