Former Duke basketball star [autotag]Jayson Tatum[/autotag] remains one of his own harshest critics.
The seventh-year Boston Celtics star finished Game 2 of the NBA Finals with 18 points, 12 assists, and nine rebounds in a second consecutive win. However, when asked about his performance and playmaking, he focused on something else.
“Obviously I need to shoot better,” Tatum said during a postgame media session while staring at the box score. “Golly.”
Tatum finished with six makes in 22 field-goal attempts for Saturday’s game, and he missed six of his seven efforts from beyond the arc. He started the game by making two of his nine first-half efforts to only have five points at the midway mark.
Despite averaging 17.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 8.5 assists through two games in the championship series, the All-NBA First Team member is shooting 31.6% from the floor and 28.6% from 3-point range.
Tatum finished above 44% from the floor in each of his last two playoff series en route to the Eastern Conference crown.
Jayson Tatum on playmaking more than scoring this series:
"Obviously I need to shoot better, golly." pic.twitter.com/1iOXlcTGL5
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 10, 2024
Tatum gets the chance to redeem his shooting performance during Game 3 on Wednesday night.