The Brooklyn Nets may be heading into their first-round matchup with the Boston Celtics as the clear favorites, but Kevin Durant knows that Jayson Tatum is capable of doing some serious damage in the series.
Ahead of Game 1 on Saturday, Durant spoke on Tatum's growth this year with the Celtics where he's put up career numbers and broke records along the way. But there's been one specific thing that's impressed KD despite all of Boston's injury problems this season.
“The best thing I've seen about JT is how he stays the same no matter what the lineup is,” Durant said, via NBC Sports Boston. “Guys are in and out of that Celtics lineup, he had COVID, his running mate (Jaylen Brown) is out for the rest of the season, Kemba [Walker] was in and out of the lineup, and he stayed solid.
“I mean, the way he plays the game, he never changes his style from scoring from the top of the key, to the post, from either side of the floor, adding passing to the game now. I feel like he has some blinders on and just focused in on developing and continuing to grow as a player, and that's what I admire the most from afar. But he's learning more and more about NBA defenses and as a young guy he's been through so much already. He's only going to get smarter, so I think at this point people have thrown everything at him and he's handled it pretty well.”
Durant definitely has a point. The Celtics star has been handed numerous roadblocks this season from getting COVID-19 to having numerous different rotations alongside him.
Nonetheless, he's never wavered from scoring the rock at a high level. The former Duke star dropped 50 on the Wizards earlier this week in the #7 vs #8 play-in game, marking the third time in 2020/21 he collected 50 or more points. Tatum also made Celtics history on April 30th after torching the Spurs for 60.
While Boston is missing their second-best player in Jaylen Brown for this Nets series, expect Tatum to still go to work against the Big 3.
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