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Celtics Wrap: Jayson Tatum’s MVP Candidacy Reaches New High Vs. Heat
It may be time to get those Tatum MVP tickets in


NESN by Keagan Stiefel

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics moved their home-winning streak to 10 games Wednesday night with a win over the Miami Heat, 134-121, at TD Garden.

The Celtics improved to 18-4 on the year, while the Heat dropped to 10-12.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The Jayson Tatum for MVP train is full steam ahead.

Wednesday was yet another reminder of just how dominant Boston’s young star can be in every aspect of the game. As the Celtics struggled defensively through different points in the game, it seemed as though Tatum was always ready to provide an offensive spark and lead the charge in a runaway effort. That fact was never more evident than in the third quarter.

On two separate occasions, the Heat stormed back to cut the Celtics lead to two. Both times, it was Tatum who put the team on his back to help expand the lead. First, Tatum knocked down back-to-back triples in a span of 18 seconds. The, he drove to the hoop and finished despite being fouled, sending TD Garden into a frenzy.

With a six-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, the Celtics chose to rest their star as long as possible. Once the lead was down to three with six minutes remaining, Tatum returned and led Boston to a fifth-consecutive victory — putting the game away with a pair of dagger threes.


STARS OF THE GAME
— Tatum was the star Wednesday night, no matter which NBA game you were watching. He finished with with 49 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals. He was 8-for-12 beyond the arc.

— Jaylen Brown was big in the fourth quarter, despite finding himself in foul trouble due to a pair of questionable calls. He finished with 26 points, six rebounds and five assists.

— Derrick White seemed to be able to pull a rabbit out of his hat whenever asked. He finished with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting, including a 3-for-8 performance from beyond the arc. He’s now shooting 47.9% from 3-point range this season.

WAGER WATCH
DraftKings Sportsbook set Tatum’s total Points-Rebounds-Assists at 45.5, giving him -110 odds of surpassing the number. He did so with nearly eight minutes remaining in the third quarter. A $100 bet would have netted a total payout of $190.91.

UP NEXT
The Celtics will run things back with the Heat on Friday night at TD Garden. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.

Yes, but can Jayson yodel?

This was a good game for us, Heat also played hard and their shooting was on, they got up for this game even without Jimmy B. We were forced to execute down the stretch and last 3 minutes was some vintage shotmaking from Tatum and some exhilarating finishes/dunks by Jaylen. Our 2 stars took over down the stretch, showing the poise and teamwork that we have abundantly seen during this latest run. In the playoffs we have to execute down the stretch, so as good a time as any to figure it out, might as well be ahead of the curve.

Smart is playing great, regularly setting up the J’s, eliminating his bad shot stretches. The difference between how we took over this game down the stretch and game 7 last year in a near collapse is startling. Ime had no offensive counters when we needed it in that game 7 or I didn’t see any, young coach Joe has this offense clicking on all cylinders and it was great to see crisp team basketball down the stretch in crunch time.

Referring to the JT for MVP train on alert, I was watching First Take yesterday and one of the questions was basically who's better for MVP, Luka or Steph? Mad Dog Russo was on there as well and he did his part then it got to Stephen A. He started but before he got into his rant, he said to the effect that, "I'm going to insert Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics into this MVP conversation because he's playing some incredible ball and IMHBAO has earned the right to be in this MVP race. Then he went on to answer the original question but it was refreshing to note that he knows the deal and used his platform to go outside the answer of the question and make the world aware that JT is no joke.

Just curious for all 75+ MVP's named, how many also won the championship that year?

Anyway, good for Stephen A. bringing that to everyone's attention. And it was a sincere, legit set of comments on JT and Boston.

First off for my rant, as great as we are looking and playing during this stretch, we have not been separating ourselves from the Bucks. Even after last night, they are still only a game behind us in the loss column after we've gone 14-1. Just a quick reality check there. They are right on our tails and not skipping a beat sans CM. Again, Bonnie Situation scene with Mr. Wolf's "vacuum" comments inserted but not quoted here.

Where did we win the game last night? One would think it was with the 3-ball again as we made 4 more threes than the Heat for +12 points there. Since the victory was 13 points, "that would be a pretty good guess, Mr. Brown...but you'd be wrong" as my college accounting professor would say. (BTW, he could somehow tell and predict with great accuracy that you had been out the night before partying and drinking and he knew you hadn't done your homework for class that day as a result and would call on you during class...)

But if you do the math, the Heat made 5 more two-point shots than us for a -10 difference that all but removed our 4 more 3's advantage. So then when you look at the free throws after those calculations, you see where we won and from what...making 11 more free throws from driving to the basket, making the layup/dunk and getting a free throw or 2 from being fouled! And all this talk about 3's!! I wasn't counting the And 1's but there were a few last night for us. The Heat fouled us 21 times and we attempted 23 FT's (three were from technicals I believe) from that. This also implied that we got at least one FT per foul which means even on fouls 1-4 before the penalty, we were getting fouled in the act and subsequently going to the line. If those fouls were non-shooting fouls before the penalty, that ratio would be considerably less than one. Anyway, math lesson over. I bring all this up because Scal referenced all night in the CHA game on Wednesday that we had such a huge advantage with the 3's made (24 vs. 11 in the end) which is a +39 and this was how we won. Final score was +35. For the most part, he's right. But if he had applied that logic to last night's game he'd be wrong as laid out above.

Loved Brodgen's "quiet" 21 off the bench. Looks like we didn't need Doogie last night either. And unless he was hurt, CJ pulled him for being the weakest link. He wasn't on. Something subtle here with CJ and in-game adjustments. CJ treated this game like it was a playoff game, and in a sense with the B2B scheduling, these are indeed "playoff-like" games. He only really played 3 off the bench. MIA will treat Friday's game like a G2. They actually can and will make adjustments against the same team. I'm not sure how much they can do since both teams played 50/40/90. All one team has to do is play a little defense. Maybe that 50/40/90 stat isn't as big a deal for the team as you may have thought. Let's use last night's games as a small sample space.

Of the 13 games played representing 26 teams, only 3 teams shot 50/40/90 last night. Boston, MIA and...PHX. Three others were close but not really. Pelicans, Nets and Kings. Not surprising on Kings. Surprising on Nets. We're going to need to put them in their place Sunday, that's all I'm saying. Kyrie needs a 10-15 game break. He's been working way too much lately. Anyway, on the 50/40/90 Team Stat, just something to talk about.

Anyway, I've rambled enough. That's what I saw last night.

db

Fewer turnovers, more trips to the foul line - we're improving greatly over last yea, and we were pretty damn good last year.

Hi,
I agree with dbrown4 - CJ treated this game as a playoffs game. But he wasn't alone - the whole crew did. They played as if there's no tomorrow.
As Mike Gorman put it: [Celtics played so good] Prince and Princess will be back on Friday.

AK

I also don't know if anyone else saw this because of all the different feeds we're all on for watching games but there was a piece during last night's game on the return of RWIII with footage of him practicing 3-on-3 it looked like.  Did anyone see this besides me?

Anyway, I couldn't tell from the camera angle and from the clothes he was wearing if he was overweight or if he had spent some considerable time in the weight room on his upper body.  I want to say the latter and if so, look out.  He's not a twig anymore.  Does anyone have recent pics of him (within the last couple of days) to confirm or deny what my eyes may have seen and/or his workout routine since being out?  Thanks!

db

This game was a 'barn burner'

As usual the team that scored the most points won.

Tatum with an A++ game.

Concerns are related to the team's inability to defend the high PNR action.  With great screens set by bam, there was no way for the defender to get over the top.  The drop down by our bigs did nothing to help the situation.  

So how do the Celtics defend that action?

I am not ready to bury JB. He is a smart enough guy to sit, watch film, and realize that his faults have hurt the team at times. Sit with Marcus, Jaylen, listen to him, work with him, believe it or not, he made alot of the same mistakes as you. You could learn alot from him. Leave your offensive game alone, just watch the film, and lean from it. I believe you will do exactly that and be better as time goes on

"So how do the Celtics defend that action?'

PUT ROB WILLLIAMS ON THE FLOOR!

I’ll take the W any way we can get it.
Lets lose the “historic offense” nonsense. The rules have changed the game. The game of basketball has changed significantly.
Heard from a source that if you’re wondering why the up tick in travel calls and carries violations, its because Adam Silver is trying to curtail the explosion on the offensive end. He feels it may be getting out of hand and feels that the defensive end needs an assist and the recent focus on traveling and palming the ball will help the defensive end of the game and slow down the escalating offensive side.

Sounds nuts but there’s got a be a reason why Steph has been called for 5 traveling violations in the last 2 games. That Dallas/GS game the other night was a perfect example.
At one point there were four traveling calls in the 3rd quarter and at another point Doncic and Curry got back to back traveling calls each.
I watched one game earlier this year where one player got called for palming the ball 3 times. Unheard of.
Ok, some would say “well stop traveling and palming and the problem goes away”. Naw, there’s now an emphasis put on it even though players have been doing it for years.

One other thing, Bob H is right about Jaylen. He’s not picking on him and ready to bury him at sundown. Thats just silly to read what he wrote and surmise that he’s giving up on him and wants him buried.
We’re talking about his turnovers and his suspect handle that does not appear to be getting much better.
Its not as easy as it may sound to improve in that area and Jaylen hasn't.
Most everything else about Jaylen is all star caliber but he has that one weakness that he has to get a handle on. (Pun intended silly rabbit) :>0

Ktron, the next Palm Sunday is April 2, 2023.

worcester wrote:Ktron, the next Palm Sunday is April 2, 2023.

You lost me on that one W. :>)

I didn’t think Bob was overboard on JB either, even great players have faults and the good thing is it’s still correctable. I think Jaylen is the most athletic 6’7” wing in the game, he is equally strong and can turn on the speed like a blur. He is highly skilled, not the most skilled, but still all NBA level skilled; might only be 2-3 players in the whole league his height more skilled than him, but none as athletic and strong and fast. I tell my sons having him and Jayson so makes up for tragically losing Len Bias and Reggie Lewis, who never played together; but could have been one of the only wing duos at that time in that era that could have actually challenged Jordan and Pippen. We got robbed of that, still hurts. So I’m just thrilled team is jelling and still has another level to reach. I see teams starting to go at the great Luka at crunch time defensively and score in his face, this happened tonight vs Pistons and does not look correctable. Luka cannot handle quick explosive players defensively, I don’t see this being correctable. Jaylen’s handle is not the big problem, it’s more his decision making on passing and attacking. In many instances he actually makes great passes for buckets, but too many times throws the ball at a baiting defender. Anyway the good/great still outweighs the bad and I still think it can be worked on and fixed at some point.

The 2 players around his height more skilled than him is definitely Luka and Devin Booker, the third could be SGA, but he still has to prove he has the durability to do it like Luka and Booker have already shown. Jaylen is faster, stronger and more explosive than all 3 and a much better defender than all 3 IMHO. Until we see them on the floor and actually stringing together steady games week in and week out I can’t include Kawhi and Paul George. Jaylen abuses and wears out Klay Thompson.

Ktron...Isn't Palm Sunday in commemoration of the NBA's institution of the palming rule?

worcester wrote:Ktron...Isn't Palm Sunday in commemoration of the NBA's institution of the palming rule?

Hilarious! You got me on that.

I agree that its not so much Jaylens handle (Had to find a pun somewhere) and its more of his decision making and passing. He gets caught up at times. With all that he still is a certified all-star on both ends and he Jayson are the best duo in this league.

On the Len Bias and Reggie comparison, I wish we could have seen them together as I really believe we would be talking about at the very least chasing banner 20 this year as opposed to 18.

There are those including me that feel that had Len Bias lived he would have been a better NBA player than Jordan. We’ll never know but i’m convinced he would have. I would also give the edge to Reggie over Pippen as well.
Did I forget to mention that I love Green tea??

Ktron wrote:I agree that its not so much Jaylens handle (Had to find a pun somewhere) and its more of his decision making and passing. He gets caught up at times. With all that he still is a certified all-star on both ends and he Jayson are the best duo in this league.

On the Len Bias and Reggie comparison, I wish we could have seen them together as I really believe we would be talking about at the very least chasing banner 20 this year as opposed to 18.

There are those including me that feel that had Len Bias lived he would have been a better NBA player than Jordan. We’ll never know but i’m convinced he would have. I would also give the edge to Reggie over Pippen as well.
Did I forget to mention that I love Green tea??

At the very least with Bias we win in 87 and 88, could easily be more; it’s us with 5 instead of Lakers, Piston’s little run would have never happened. Eventually Big 3 become role players in 90’s, an old Bird with the young stud muffins would still be hard to beat. Bias also would have kept improving, many say his game was tailor made for the pros. Reggie was one of the few guards that could defend Jordan and make him work.