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CHICAGO – When Jayson Tatum hangs up his sneakers one day, assuming he hands out rings and plays his entire career in Boston, he’ll likely be included in the conversation as the Celtics’ GOAT.
For now, though, he would have to settle for the noise of being the scapegoat in his team’s 117-114 collapse against the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
With 22 seconds left in regulation and the round-trip battle tied at 106, Tatum showed no interest in driving to the basket and settled for dribbling the precious seconds before lifting a 27-foot-3 that had as much chance of going. like snow falling on the Sahara desert.
In addition to pointing to his poor transition offense and transition defense as factors leading to his demise, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens also lamented “hitting the ball more” and said The Boston Globe, “we have to be much better.”
Tatum actually started off on the right foot, hitting eight of his first 14 shots and allowing the Celtics to take a 14-point lead at 35 seconds into the fourth quarter.
And then disaster struck.
“We stalled. We became complacent,” yelled Marcus Smart, who finished with 26 points.
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And Tatum froze, losing eight of his next 10 field goals in the final 12 minutes and overtime. Even his dunk attempt, which would have forced a second overtime, was thwarted at the basket by Mami’s Bam Adebayo with 3.7 sticks remaining in the extra session.
SHOOTERS, GOOD OR BAD, WILL ALWAYS BE UNDER THE MERCY OF RANDOM PERCENTAGES. Make or lose league, right?
Yes, but failures out of the flow of offense are what invariably cause a team to fall apart. Tatum hoarded the ball, dribbled it like a maniac and relied heavily on isolation plays.
As a consequence of his selfishness, the Celtics’ energetic, fluid, ball-rolling offense died on his fingertips.
As the ball moved like rush hour traffic on the Boston side, sizzling with just 24 assists, Miami did the exact opposite. The Heat passed the ball hard, cut hard and frequently, and finished triumphantly with 32 dimes.
Boston committed 25 fouls, just two more than Miami, but the Celtics put the Heat on the bonus at the 7:18 mark of the final period where Miami abused the best defensive team in the league with 35 points in the fourth quarter.
“The fouls killed us,” Stevens said.
And this has to change if Boston wants to tie the series together with a Game 2 W.
In his eight years at Charlotte, Kemba Walker made the playoffs only twice and both seasons stalled outside the gates of Round 2.
In his first conference final, in deep, dark waters he had never waded before, Walker looked uncomfortable, overwhelmed. He made just six of 19 shots and missed eight of nine triples. He also suffered three turnovers.
Walker’s counterpart, Goran Dragic, finished with 29 points, seven rebounds and four assists. It was a spectacular performance that was somehow buried by the victory and Jimmy Butler’s one and Adebayo’s blocking.
Boston needs Kemba to show up and not be outmatched by a 34-year-old former All-Star with a sensitive right knee held together with a bulky brace.
MORE OF SPIN
For the Heat to double down, they need to fine-tune the things that served them well in Game 1, like spacing, 3-pointers (16 of 36) and rebounds (41-37 lead over Boston).
And his annoying physical defense to the face should keep his edge.
Boston is too smart and talented to make a similar meltdown. Those guys in green will respond by roaring with all the power and resources they have.
It should be a great game 2.
