There has been a lot of criticism around Jayson Tatum's game amid the Boston Celtics' NBA Finals run. Some of it comes from his label as a superstar while others like Jason Kidd have said that Jaylen Brown is the better player in Joe Mazzulla's system. The star out of Duke is not letting any of these affect him. He went out against the Luka Doncic-led Dallas Mavericks and continued to wreak havoc.
Jayson Tatum has reached a career-high in assists during the NBA Finals, per StatMuse. In just the first half alone, he has gotten the other members of the Celtics in good positions for buckets. This got him eight assists in total and will only continue to build it up as they try to go up two to nothing against the Mavericks.
Jayson Tatum has been penetrating the Mavericks' defense which causes their opponents to collapse. This leads to fast reads whether it is to pass for a corner three, to someone located in the elbows, or just someone in the dunker's spot who can easily go up for a layup. All of which came from his offensive arsenal to help the Celtics.
This is the most that Tatum can do for the Celtics at the moment. He has not had a good shooting night for the Celtics since the NBA Finals started. The Mavericks' defense has been good at blitzing him and also contesting his shots. Game 2 of this series is no exception. He is five for 15 from all three levels of scoring which only got him 13 points so far. What makes it even worse is the fact that he has not knocked down a single one of his five attempts from three-point range.
Celtics benefit despite Tatum's struggles
At the end of the third, Tatum already has a double-double with 10 assists. He can surely offer more to the Celtics as a facilitator given how much the Mavericks defense collapses around him. One of the biggest beneficiaries of his dime-dropping skills is Jrue Holiday. The Celtics guard acquired in the most recent offseason has been torching the Luka Doncic-led squad. He has gone 10 for 12 from the field and has gotten 23 points to lead the Celtics. His eight rebounds have all been a big help.
Other Celtics have also risen up to the occasion. Jaylen Brown has stolen the ball thrice to prevent the Mavericks from gaining any sort of momentum. He has also put up 17 points by going six for 11 on the field. Kristaps Porzingis has also been a big boost off the bench. The big man got two blocks and three rebounds. His scoring in just 20 minutes has him scoring 12 points on four out of seven shooting from all three levels of scoring.
It was a slow start for the Celtics but they are now picking up the pace of this matchup. With Tatum finding his role on offense despite being cold, other Celtics are going to blaze it up. Thankfully, Joe Mazzulla has the depth to stay in this matchup against the Luka Doncic-led Mavericks.
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