Tag: jayson tatum

Jayson Tatum’s 30-point explosion not enough to take down Clippers

The Boston Celtics lost for the second time in three games as they fell to the Los Angeles Clippers, 104-107.

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Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum had one of his best performances of his career on Wednesday with 30 points (on 12-24 shooting from the field), two steals and two blocks but it was all for naught, as the Los Angeles Clippers got 52 combined points from Lou Williams and Paul George as they narrowly defeated the Celtics in overtime (104-107).

With Boston up double-figures midway through the fourth quarter despite what was a close and intense game throughout the contest, savvy playmaking from George — who had eight assists on the night — brought LA back, while defensive menace Patrick Beverley made his impact felt on the offensive end, knocking down several clutch threes.

Beverley, who finished with 14 points, 16 rebounds (4 offensive), seven assists, three steals and two blocks, was even more impactful than Kawhi Leonard, who went 3-10 from three on his way to 17 points but had a key block on Kemba Walker that sealed the game for them.

Tatum didn’t get much help in this battle, as Walker, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown all felt the effects of the Clippers defense, each of them shooting 35% or below from the field. It was certainly Brown’s worst night this season, as he went just 3-14 from the field on his way to nine points.

Smart, who made a number of important shots in the fourth quarter and made stellar defensive plays, shot just 1-11 from three.

However, despite the loss, Tatum’s teammates showed their appreciation for their rising star. Here’s what Walker had to say about Tatum after their loss on Wednesday, per The Athletic’s Jay King.

“JT made some huge shots and some big plays. That’s what he is. That’s who he is for us. We trust him. We want him to develop into that leader, that leadership role.”

The Celtics-Clippers game lived up to the hype (and more) with OT-thriller ending

The Clippers were at full strength with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George on the court, and took in the Celtics in a game that went to overtime. See all the highlights.

It’s fun when a hyped-up game comes out and exceeds expectations.

The Boston Celtics traveled to Los Angeles to take on the Clippers on Wednesday night, who finally had their full-look roster with Paul George returning from injury and Kawhi Leonard on the court.

The Clippers looked good. The Celtics also looked good! It went to overtime, a deserved result as for the entire game it felt like neither team could pull away. This wasn’t a game of big runs. They just traded baskets and stops all night.

The game went to overtime after Jayson Tatum went and broke George’s ankles and drained a huge three to tie the game late, but the Clippers went on a nice run in OT and were able to hang on and win 107-104, thanks in part to a fantastic last-second block from Leonard.

If you had to ask: No, Leonard didn’t celebrate at all, because he’s Kawhi Leonard.

It was a bit of a wonky game because it’s clear that George and Leonard are still figuring things out. It’s wild to say that, considering George finished with 25-5-8 and Leonard finished with 17-6-3, but Leonard especially was a little more deferential than we usually see him. It was also a bit wonky in that the Celtics’ Kemba Walker had an uncharacteristic off night, finishing with 13 points on 4 of 17 shooting.

Tatum had 30 though, and backup point guard Brad Wanamaker came hot off the bench and got 14 points.

Potential finals matchup? Maybe. Sure. We’d do that.

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Despite the buzz about Boston, don’t expect trades any time soon

Dubbed “the spiritual successors to the Warriors”, will the Boston Celtics iteration of switchy defenders and high-powered offense be enough to succeed in the postseason?

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Don’t expect a trade to upgrade the Boston Celtics coming any time soon, particularly while the team sticks to its winning ways.

Coming into the season, the team’s big man rotation was widely seen to be a step below what the team would need to compete for a title, with larger, more skilled big men on the Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks looking like insuperable barriers to a deep postseason run.

One 10-game win streak later and those qualms have subsided significantly, particularly with Boston showing it could bounce back against the equally-surprising Phoenix Suns and former center Aron Baynes on Nov. 18.

There’s still legitimate reason to doubt the team’s current frontcourt will have what it takes to get past some of the better teams in the playoffs, where opponents will have more time and impetus to gameplan ways to use size against the team.

As the Ringer’s Jonathan Tjarks notes, the Celtics elevation of two third-overall picks (in consecutive NBA Drafts), Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, to trusted top offensive options and combining them defensive tour de force Marcus Smart (who can switch onto even the strongest and quickest bigs in the league) has somehow worked.

And not only worked, but created one of the more potent offensive two-man lineups in the league despite Tatum’s up-and-down nights and overall development.

“The Celtics are this year’s closest thing to the spiritual heirs of the Warriors,” explains Tjarks.

“They don’t have the same star power, but their key players all fit into similar roles. Kemba Walker, like Steph Curry, is a smaller guard who can bomb 3s and play on and off the ball, and they surround him with big wings who can defend multiple positions, space the floor, and create their own shot. Their best lineup, when everyone is healthy, doesn’t feature anyone above 6-foot-8: Kemba, Smart, Tatum, Brown, and Hayward.”

Tatum’s showing signs of putting things together and considering much of this has been going on without All-Star forward Gordon Hayward — out until December with a broken hand — while Kemba Walker has quietly inserted himself into the fringes of the MVP conversation.

Perhaps the wins shouldn’t be so surprising.

But the skepticism about the frontcourt remains, and quite possibly for good reason. While the Warriors indeed did not have a dominant big functioning in a rim-protecting, pick-setting, back-to-the-basket sort of center anchoring their formidable defenses, they also had a much more lethal array of shooters, arguably the greatest ever assembled in recent years.

Can Boston hope to compete for a title with such a notable step down on the offensive end? If not, is there a player who makes sense who could be had on the trade market?

According to senior ESPN writer Brian Windhorst, if there is, it won’t involve any core players — Walker, Hayward, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum or even Marcus Smart — from the team’s core. Smart and Hayward have been floated often as potential options in recent months.

That leaves the comparatively smaller salaries of players like veterans like Daniel Theis, Enes Kanter, and rookies Romeo Langford and Vincent Poirier, all of whom make $5 million per season or less, and all but Langford happen to be bigs shoring up the already- shaky frontcourt rotation.

Finding a player worth moving so many contracts (or on a deal so cheap) that makes sense to pull the trigger on will be no easy task and with so many new signings for the team in the offseason, any such deal would likely have to wait until at least Dec. 15, when certain recently-signed deals begin to become tradable according to league rules.

For now, the strategy of the “spiritual heirs of the Warriors” will be to refine and evolve the Dubs approach to winning while small, strangely zagging back to what’s worked in the past as East contemporaries ‘zig’ big.

Will it be enough to stay in the conversation of belonging in the league’s elite?

We’ll just have to wait to find out.

ESPN expert cites stat that’s been key to Celtics’ early success

Jaylen Brown may be more beneficial to the Boston Celtics’ offense than anyone thought.

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At 11-2, the Boston Celtics have the Eastern Conference’s best record and they’ve done so while being ranked in the league’s top-10 of both offensive rating (110.9; 4th in the NBA) and defensive rating (102.6; 6th in the NBA). That they’ve been able to dominate on offense, rather than defense — where the most questions were raised — is unsurprising.

However, they’ve done so with star forward Gordon Hayward — playing his best basketball in years — missing five games and both Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker shooting below 42% from the floor. Their bench hasn’t been of much help offensively either, as they continue to be ranked near the bottom of the league in points per game (26.9; 28th in the NBA).

Making an appearance on ESPN’s Brian’s Windhorst’s “Brian Windhorst & the Hoop Collective” podcast with Windhorst and ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz, ESPN’s Kevin Pelton has an interesting thought on what’s been a primary catalyst for Boston’s early offensive success.

According to Pelton, the Celtics would have to look no further than to keep the ball in their possession, as it would lead to them getting more shot opportunities (h/t NESN’s Marcus Kwesi O’Mard):

“The thing that has really driven their offense, much more so than their shot-making, has been their ability to take care of the basketball,” he said. “They’re middle of the pack in 12th in terms of effective field goal percentage on offense but they are no. 1 in turnover percentage. And they are No. 1 by a wide margin. The gap between them and the No. 2 team, which is Orlando, is larger than the gap between Orlando and the 11th team in the league.

So they’re just never turning it over, and that’s a quality we don’t think about that much in associating it with elite offenses. We think more about shot-making. But if you get attempts at the basket, that’s going to help your chances.”

The Celtics have the league’s best turnover rate at 12.2%, with the Denver Nuggets and Orlando Magic right behind them at 13.2%. Currently, the gap between the turnover rate of the Nuggets and Magic and that of the team with the 11th-ranked turnover rate, the Houston Rockets, is 1.2%.

That said, while Boston is no longer in another stratosphere with their ball control, they still lead the league in an important category. One that Pelton rightly assesses as a reason that their middling effective field goal percentage (eFG) — ranked 17th in the NBA at 51.4% — hasn’t prevented them from achieving an 11-2 record to start the season.

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Furthermore, the Celtics ranked 13th in the NBA with 90.3 field goal attempts per game (tied with the Golden State Warriors). Among the top 13 teams, only six average more than 15.0 turnovers per game and out of the seven averaging fewer, five are currently in the top-8 of their conference standings.

There could certainly be a direct correlation between their low turnover rate and their team record.

Each of center Daniel Theis (47.4%), forward Jayson Tatum (46.8%), guard Carsen Edwards (42.9%) and forward Grant Williams (29.7%) have underwhelmed from the floor, with Edwards, Theis and Williams struggling from behind the arc and Tatum unable to find the mark from inside it.

Logic would suggest that talented scorers like Edwards and Tatum will turn it around.

However, while they try to catch their rhythm, Boston is certainly benefiting from their ability to take care of the ball. Tatum is particularly helpful in this regard, with a turnover rate of 8.8% despite a usage rate of 27.3%. Edwards (6.2%) also does well in this category though Williams has a glaring turnover rate of 20.3%, the third-highest of their team.

The team’s best player — in terms of efficiency, scoring, usage rate and turnover rate — may be Jaylen Brown though.

Averaging 19.5 points (along with 7.3 rebounds) on 49.7% shooting from the field and 39.0% shooting from three, Brown’s eFG of 55.0% is ranked second among the team’s starters (behind the injured Gordon Hayward’s sizzling eFG of 61.4%). His turnover rate of 8.7% is also lower than Tatum’s while his usage rate of 24.2% isn’t too far behind the Duke product’s either

Moving forward, the Celtics should expect better efficiency from Tatum and Edwards, especially if Tatum cuts down on the number of tough shots he takes from midrange. Combining improved efficiency, exceptional defense and ball control, Boston could remain atop the Eastern Conference standings for quite some time.

*All stats gathered from NBA Advanced Stats and Basketball Reference 

Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum lead C’s to victory over feisty Suns

The Boston Celtics got back to their winning ways with a dominant win over the Phoenix Suns.

With 45 combined points and dominant play throughout their matchup against Monty Williams’ Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics stars Kemba Walker and Jayson Tatum led the Celtics to a 99-85 win over the Suns despite Phoenix battling hard and refusing to give in when Boston built a sizable lead.

Walker sliced and diced his way through the defense while Tatum, who had been struggling from the field entering the game, knocked down 50% of his field goals and got to the paint consistently with a series of nifty moves.

The Suns, looking much more competitive than they have in past seasons even without star big man Deandre Ayton, got great minutes from All-Star guard Devin Booker (20 points) and a cutting Kelly Oubre Jr. (15 points) but outside of them, Phoenix struggled to score effectively.

Their defense was unimpressive against Boston despite holding the Celtics to 99 points as the starters were able to pick them apart with 22 assists on 37 field goals.

However, Boston was able to notch 13 steals on the night with eight of those steals coming from the bench. The Celtics’ second unit still struggled to score with 23 total points but defensively, they created chaos behind the play of second-year guard Brad Wanamaker (three steals), second-year center Robert Williams III (two steals and one block) and rookie forward Grant Williams (two blocks).

After receiving a DNP against the Dallas Mavericks, Williams would play 18 minutes against the Suns with Celtics head coach opting to lean on his defense over starting center Enes Kanter’s offense (Kanter would only play five minutes). With Kanter’s return looking as if it might force Williams out of the rotation, his showing against the Suns was timely and a quick reminder as to why Boston drafted him.

He makes winning plays, even if they don’t all show up in the box score.

Boston’s next matchup is against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.

A tale of 2 Jays: While Jaylen Brown exceeds expectations, Jayson Tatum struggles

In a season defying expectations of all sorts, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are confounding experts in nearly every way possible.

In the NBA, narratives can turn on a dime.

It seems like eons ago that we were collectively certain the Boston Celtics would be mostly treading water against the league’s better teams while doing well against the middle-of-the-pack and cellar-dweller franchises of the league.

In truth, it hasn’t even been a month to see that and many such expectations upended.

The same groupthink that had us all thinking last season’s Celtics would dominate the NBA had many assuming Jaylen Brown would probably be dealt by the end of the season, given how unlikely it was that he’d manage to grow enough as a player to warrant the near-max deal he’d likely garner at the end of the 2019-20 season.

Many believed this was the season Jayson Tatum would take a big step forward, cementing his place among the league’s top players, particularly after word his game had been “de-Kobe-fied” (whatever that means) started circulating.

Fast forward 3.5 weeks and Boston is coming off of the first loss after a 10-game winning streak behind some of the most consistent play of Brown’s career (including several wins over likely playoff teams), while third-year wing Tatum has struggled to put together the sort of leaps in production many had hoped to see this season.

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If nothing else, we should use this state of affairs to acknowledge just how complex things like chemistry and other contexts largely invisible to — or at least difficult to stay aware of — can impact assumptions about players and the teams they populate can have.

The Celtics have, if anything, in recent years been a sterling example of how popular narratives do not always line up with our expected results.

The cascading effects of divergent interests last season has illustrated how too much talent is indeed a thing one can have, if said talent isn’t properly distributed across the roster or able to effectively communicate.

And for at least the second time in his young career, Brown had to watch his stock drop just before a key career juncture due to his team not having the structure to amplify his strengths. Meanwhile, Tatum has yet to consistently attack on offense with the matured approach we instead are seeing from the other half of the so-called Jay Team.

What’s behind the unexpected (at least, by some) success of the former and shortcomings of the latter?

Quite possibly, something as simple as the irregular development curve shown by most rookies, who rarely make jumps in a linear fashion.

It could also simply be the current lack of high-level bigs and Brown’s propensity to guard rangier forwards on one end of the floor and opportunity relatively unmarred by injury on the other to explain the Georgia native’s newfound success.

Many have noted that the vote of confidence Celtics president Danny Ainge granted in signing the fourth-year wing to an extension ahead of restricted free agency may also be a factor. Whatever the cause, Marietta’s favorite son is currently logging 20.1 points via 15 attempts per game on .511 shooting from the floor, easily a career-high.

He’s even raised his 3-point shooting — an early-season source of consternation for Brown — to a healthy 38.9 %, while getting to the line 4.1 times per game and converting 78.4% of them (both career-highs).

Improved guard skills (dribbling and passing) coupled with the athletic ability to change speeds and draw contact, as well as improvements to his court awareness and body control have combined to elevate the former Golden Bear to an early fringe All-Star candidate, according to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Forsberg.

Inconsistent play, poor finishing, and a significant drop in two-point shooting percentages (which, despite improved accuracy and attempts from deep, fail to make up for an equivalent increase of shots closer to the cup) have conversely plagued Tatum’s anticipated breakout season unexpectedly.

To his credit, the Duke product has indeed boosted his reviled deep-two shooting percentages while also diminishing their frequency, instead boosting his attempts from beyond the arc and — in what ought to be a higher-percentage shot — close to the basket.

For Tatum, though, cold nights from the floor (such as a 1-of-18 shooting night he had against the Dallas Mavericks earlier in November) and the worst finishing numbers of his career for shots within three feet of the basket (44.4 % compared to a two-season average of 65.2%) have combined to suggest he’s actually regressing offensively.

At least so far this season.

There’s still plenty of time for both Celtics wings to make changes in their respective situations and, for that matter, for Boston to see its early-season win percentage shrink as they begin the tougher end of a West Coast road trip.

Consequently look to these unanticipated outcomes as a reminder that narratives are just that — incomplete analyses awaiting confirmation or refutation by results.

While the sort of players Boston hopes they have in hand for the long haul tend to exhibit big steps forward in their first three to four seasons, Tatum has time and Brown is showing exactly what the Celtics want to see from someone who recently inked a $115 million-dollar extension (including bonuses).

As to how it comes together and how far it will take the team, only the passage of time can tell.

Celtics’ 10-game win streak snapped by Kings as Marcus Smart misses buzzer-beater

The Boston Celtics got off to another slow start but this time the Sacramento Kings made them pay.

After winning 10 consecutive games, the Boston Celtics have had their winning streak snapped by the Sacramento Kings after falling 99-100 is a game that was closely fought throughout with 24 lead changes.

Unfortunately for the Celtics, All-Star hopeful Jayson Tatum would only tally four points through the first three quarters (he finished with 14) while the Kings — missing point guard De’Aaron Fox — were carried by Kings guard Buddy Hield’s 35 points.

Further, after going down 30-18 by the start of second quarter, Boston faced an uphill battle against Sacramento and continued a troubling trend that should be monitored throughout the season.

For all the improvements to team chemistry and the play of particular players, if the Celtics don’t get off to better starts then their chances of manifesting their full potential takes a substantial hit. A primary catalyst for their first half woes is that their bench unit is one of the least threatening in the league, averaging 27.3 points per game (28th in the NBA, per NBA Advanced Stats). In the first quarter, the second unit is averaging a mediocre 4.6 points per game.

Considering that Sacramento went on a 14-4 run   that extended into the opening minutes of the second quarter with three minutes left in the first quarter, a significant portion of the blame for their underwhelming start can be attributed to the bench unit staying true to form in the first quarter.

Nonetheless, the Kings made it difficult for Boston to score inside while Bogdan Bogdanovic (10 assists) made smart decisions with the ball in his hands, effectively quarterbacking Sacramento’s offense.

For Boston, Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart would both tally nine assists, continuing to be great facilitators, but while Walker went 7-16 from the field in a game that he was efficient in throughout, Smart went 2-16 from the field (and 1-8 from three) and missed the potential game-winner on a shot that rattled around the rim.

There wasn’t much positive to take away from the Celtics’ performance other than Walker was efficient from start to finish and wing Jaylen Brown delivered another strong performance with a team-high 18 points (including 4-7 shooting from three), eight rebounds and two steals.

Where does Lonzo Ball rank among the top 15 selections in the 2017 NBA Draft?

Lonzo Ball has gotten more headlines than any other player in the 2017 NBA Draft but where does he rank compared to the others in the class?

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Lonzo Ball has gotten more headlines than any other player in the 2017 NBA Draft but where does he rank compared to the others in the class?

15. Markelle Fultz

Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Philadelphia 76ers took Markelle Fultz first overall out of Washington and it did not pan out for them in any way, shape or form. He is averaging a career-best 9.8 points per game this season, which tells you a lot. Fultz played in a grand total of 33 games for the Sixers before winding up in Orlando.

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Clutch play from Celtics leads to comeback victory over Warriors

The Boston Celtics now have ten straight wins after edging out the Golden State Warriors in a hard-fought game.

The Boston Celtics nearly lost a game that, on paper, they should have won.

With the Golden State Warriors missing Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry for the majority of the season, they’ve been led by All-Star guard D’Angelo Russell. The Warriors jumped the Celtics early, closing the first quarter with a nine-point lead over Boston. By the end of the half, Boston would take a one-point lead with Tatum leading the team with 17 points at halftime but the third-year forward’s fortunes would all big change from there.

However, Russell would exit the game in the third quarter with a sprained right thumb after tallying 12 points and seven assists (along with nine turnovers), leaving guard Alec Burks and forward Eric Paschall to do the heavy lifting late.

Burks would score a team-high 20 points with Paschall not far behind with 16 points. Fortunately for the Warriors, they played strong team defense and were effective stopping nearly every Celtics player, holding what’s now a 10-1 team to 40.7% shooting from the field.

That didn’t matter in the final quarter, with Celtics star point guard Kemba Walker scoring 12 points (on 5-8 shooting from the field) in the fourth quarter (he finished with 20 points) and a suddenly inefficient Tatum scoring two key baskets in the final minutes to extend Boston’s tight lead.

The Celtics, who also got five threes from defensive stalwart Marcus Smart on the night, would win 105-100.

Had Celtics wing Jaylen Brown, scoring eight points on 4-8 shooting from the field in the first half before scoring 14 points on 5-9 shooting from the field in the second half, not been a stable presence for Boston the game might have been different though.

Brown, notching his career-best fourth straight game with at least 20 points, continues to play well on both ends of the floor and it’s not a stretch to say he’s playing the best basketball of any Celtics player right now.

Boston’s next game will be against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.