Celtics' Jayson Tatum drops NSFW reaction to not calling timeout in OT loss to Sixers

Jayson Tatum has no issue with the Celtics' decision not to call a timeout in the final possession of Game 4 against the Sixers.

Jayson Tatum has no issue with the Boston Celtics' decision not to call a timeout in the final possession of Game 4 against the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Celtics ended up losing to the Sixers in OT on Sunday, 116-115, after they failed to hoist a shot in their final play. When James Harden gave the Sixers the lead, Boston still had 19 seconds left to pull off a final play. Tatum attacked the basket with five seconds remaining and proceeded to throw a pass to Marcus Smart at the 3-point line for the game-winner. Unfortunately, while Smart made his shot, it came off a second late.

Many criticized Joe Mazzulla for not calling a timeout at that point. Not only would have it allowed the Celtics to regroup, but they would have also a better sense of the time. Mazzulla himself already defended the decision, explaining that his only issue with their last play was their pace. Had they been a couple of seconds earlier, they would have won the contest.

For Tatum, he agreed with Mazzulla and thought they didn't need the timeout since they are capable of performing well under pressure. It's not the first time they're in such situation, it's just that they weren't able to execute better this time.

“We got a good core group of guys that know how to play under pressure, knows situation. It just doesn't always go your way,” Tatum explained, per NBC Sports.

"We got a good core group of guys that know how to play under pressure."

Jayson Tatum on Joe Mazzulla's decision to not call timeout for final play pic.twitter.com/Is8oPJMmZI

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) May 7, 2023

True enough, Jayson Tatum and the Celtics knew what they had to do at crunch time. But at the end of the day, they weren't able to pull it off. As many fans have said, a timeout in such crucial situation would have benefitted them tremendously.

But hey the damage has been done and the Celtics have already lost. Boston can only move on from it and shift their focus to Game 5. As for the fans, they can only hope that the team will use the loss as motivation to bounce back in Game 5.