Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images After missing the last game with an ankle sprain, the Celtics All-Star was firing on all cylinders on Saturday. Head coach Joe Mazzulla wouldn’t call Boston’s 145-108 sinking of the Clippers a...
Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images
After missing the last game with an ankle sprain, the Celtics All-Star was firing on all cylinders on Saturday.
Head coach Joe Mazzulla wouldn’t call Boston’s 145-108 sinking of the Clippers a “statement win.” Despite beating a Los Angeles team coming off a recent nine-game win streak and seemingly figuring out how to integrate James Harden into the mix, Mazzulla said, “I consider it a win. I consider it an opportunity where we played well and an opportunity to figure out where we didn’t play well. We left a lot on the table as far as execution and the things we want to accomplish.”
However, Mazzulla wasn’t bashful about making a statement about Jayson Tatum and his growth this season.
“He’s become open minded to what [success] looks like and it could be different on different nights,” Mazzzulla said. “Tonight, his leadership and value was that they were blitzing pick-and-rolls and he just decided that he was going to pick them apart and he was going to be the ball handler and he was going to find 2-on-1s and put guys in position to make the right play.”
Tatum only registered two assists in the matinee in Los Angeles after dishing seven dimes against the Warriors, but it’s that initial action that kickstarts the Celtics’ offense.
He’s immediately doubled here by Ivica Zubac and Amir Coffey. Instead of dribbling out of the pressure, he makes the simple bounce pass to Al Horford on the short roll who hits Jrue Holiday in the corner for an open 3. Horford got credit for the assist and Holiday for the points, but it’s Tatum making the first read.
“I just gotta do a good job of reading the game as it goes, seeing different coverages on different nights,” Tatum said. “A lot of times, if I’m the ball handler, they’re blitzing or trapping the ball screen. Maybe that night, I just need to continue bringing the ball up, so when they double, I throw it over the top and keep creating advantages.
Sometimes, that may not always end up in me scoring 30, but that’s going to give us the best chance of winning that night. You gotta be willing to accept that that’s what you have to do that night.”
Boston hit a season-high 25 threes Saturday afternoon and racked up 33 assists on 49 made field goals. Tatum hit five of those triples and caught fire in the second quarter, hitting all three of his attempts.
“He’s starting to see that there’s never one way to be valued. There’s never one way for greatness. Each night is going to present an opportunity,” Mazzulla continued. “And then on the defensive end, he’s taken ownership of that, especially the last eight or nine games. He’s played with much better physicality and presence defensively.”
On two plays in the first frame, Tatum found himself in position to attack a closeout. Instead of taking a good, analytically acceptable three, he leveraged the collapsing defense and used some of that physicality and presence for a great shot.
“I drove baseline, [Daniel Theis] jumped early and I just took a spin move, saw my old teammate Theis, and the rest is history,” Tatum said.