The Boston Celtics coasted to a 107-89 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals, and yet, there was still come criticism for the team after the game, particularly when it came to Jayson Tatum. The C's superstar didn't exactly have a big game (16 PTS, 11 REB, 5 AST, 6/16 FGM), which led to many fans criticizing his play despite the win.
It's been strange to see such negative narratives surrounding Tatum after they opened the series with a big win, and one guy who is not standing for it is former NBA coach Dwane Casey. Casey fired back at Tatum's haters, saying that the star forward makes winning plays, and that he doesn't care about whether he puts up big numbers or not, so long as his team wins.
Jayson Tatum looking to lead Celtics to three more wins vs. Mavericks
The Mavericks defense has made it a point of emphasis to take away easy shots at the rim in the playoffs to this point. They did that again in Game 1 of the Finals, so the Celtics responded by taking 42 of their 82 field goal attempts from behind the arc. And the guy who spent much of his night facilitating the team's offense was Tatum.
Whenever he drove to the paint, Tatum was being met by a swarm of defenders at the rim. So rather than forcing up bad takes, he kicked the ball out to the perimeter for open threes. It only led him to five assists, but Tatum was central to Boston beating Dallas to open this series with his playmaking and strong rebounding on the other end of the floor.
Casey is confused as to why Tatum is receiving so much criticism, especially after a good team win for Boston. They had six guys score double-figure points, while seven players hit two or more threes on the night. As long as they win, it doesn't really matter, even if Tatum has a somewhat quiet night in the process.
The Celtics will be overjoyed to have taken a 1-0 lead in this series, but they know the Mavs will respond in Game 2 with some big-time adjustments. How they end up defending Tatum will be one big thing to keep an eye on, because what they did in Game 1 clearly didn't work, even though they managed to limit him to just 6/16 shooting from the floor.
Regardless of the hate he's received, as Casey notes, winning three more games against Dallas is all that Tatum will care about moving forward. And as long as he keeps on playing smart basketball, rather than flashy basketball, the Celtics will have a good shot at protecting their home-court advantage in Game 2 and extending their series lead to 2-0.
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