It Should Come As No Surprise, But We Are Currently Witnessing The Best Season Of Jayson Tatum's Career

Grant Halverson. Getty Images.

It's always a bit weird to get used to when these little 2 game mini-series come up on the schedule, and even more so when those two games are on a back-to-back. To make matters even a bit more strange, both the Celts and Hornets wore the same jerseys as Game 1, and then immediately proceeded to play the exact same game for the second night in a row, despite Jaylen Brown sitting out.

In Game 1, the Celts came out of the gates and built a 40-25 point lead early. In Game 2, the Celts came out of the gates and built a 38-24 lead early. It was another instance of building a big lead, this time as high as 21, and then immediately watching the Hornets come all the way back due to one dogshit quarter before the Celts eventually took a breath and finished things out with another double-digit road win.

The best way to describe the first back-to-back of the season?

Last season, the Celts were an NBA best 12-2 on back-to-backs, which by all accounts is completely insane. A record like that by itself is wild, but then you remember the Celts don't have KP and Al Horford doesn't play both games in a B2B. While it may be a little much to expect another 12-2 type season, kicking things off with back-to-back road wins on consecutive nights while missing 40% of your starting lineup is nothing to sneeze at. 

Yeah, it's the Hornets, but just like I said yesterday, who gives a shit. You play who you play and they all count the same.

With the Celts at 6-1 overall and 4-1 on the road, there's something to be said about this type of start despite only playing in your own building in 2 of the first 7 games, and things move to Atlanta tomorrow night to end this stretch of 6 road games in their last 7 overall. Championship teams don't fuck around on the road and handle their business, something we saw a whole lot of in the Celts NBA best 27-14 road record last year. 

If you care about a top seed (you should), you must make sure you handle certain aspects of your schedule. You have to dominate your division, you have to win on the road, and you have to take care of the dogshit teams in the league.

So far, the Celts are 1-0 in their division, 4-1 on the road, and 5-1 against teams under .500, and frankly they were a fake ass Pacers game away from being unbeaten. While things may look slightly different night to night compared to 2024, the end results have remained the same. 

On a night where around 50+ points of offense is sitting in street clothes, all that meant was that it was time for the others to pick up the slack, which as we know is no problem at all. That's the beauty of Brad Stevens' brain and why having the best roster in the NBA should never be taken for granted. We prayed for times like these, and watching it unfold on a nightly basis is truly a gift.

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The Good

- Once you get past all the crying about his three-point volume and his shot profile and blah blah blah, you realize we are currently witnessing the best start to Jayson Tatum's career. This is fact, not opinion.

For starters, we are currently witnessing Tatum have career highs in points (30.3), FG% (48.2), 3PM (3.9), FTA (9.3), FTM (7.3), STL (1.9), and TS% (63.2%)

Not only that, he is just the 3rd player in NBA history with at least 210 points, 50 rebounds, 30 assists, and 13 steals in a team's first 7 games. The other two? Some guy named Michael Jordan and another fella named Rick Barry. In fact, there hasn't been another Celtic to average more a game than Tatum over the first 7 games of a season outside of Larry Bird (30.9).  

Tatum also happens to lead the entire NBA in first-quarter scoring (12.9), and his team currently owns the best offense in the NBA (122.5 ORTG).

All this without their 7'3 basketball unicorn I might add. 

As I said in the blog yesterday, we are witnessing MVP caliber play from Jayson Tatum to open the year. Better than Luka, better than SGA, pick whoever you want. If the Nuggets and Bucks are going to be Play In teams, you can move him ahead of Jokic and Giannis too if you want.

The point is, this is the version of Jayson Tatum we have been dreaming about since he first arrived in 2017. So he may take a couple tough side step 3s that miss. Who gives a fuck. You know why he takes those shots? Because he knows he can make them? Do we all forget the side step 3PM in the final seconds of regulation against the Pacers? Tatum's pullup threat is arguably the most important piece of the Celts offensive puzzle. Teams needing to respect the threat of Tatum pulling up from deep is what opens up EVERYTHING. I do find it strange how so many Celts fans still can't seem to grasp this.

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You hear all the time "He needs to shoot less 3s! Fewer pull ups! Fewer stepbacks!", and to that I say

To me, it's more people don't like the result as opposed to the process. I don't remember hearing those same critiques when Tatum made that sidestep 3PM against the Pacers, but you sure hear about it every time he misses. That, will never make sense to me. I would argue that Tatum's approach has been the ideal version to start the year. Again, he's averaging a career high in FTA. His drives per game are right in line with what we've seen these last few years with around 8-10 per game. 

The only complaint I have with Tatum's start is he was a little careless with the basketball these last two games, with back-to-back 5 TO performances. Other than that, it's been a chef's kiss of a start on both ends.

- One of the easiest predictions in the history of predictions was that Payton Pritchard was going to have a monster bounce back performance after he couldn't hit an open shot to save his life in the first game. Jus like we saw after his struggles in the opener only to then go nuclear over the next handful of games, the same was true last night

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The team is shorthanded and they need someone to pick up the scoring slack? Good news! That is the exact reason why Pro Am Pritchard exists. As soon as Pritchard saw a few go down early, we all knew what was coming. We've seen this movie a thousand times before and once Pritchard has his confidence back there's not much the opposing defense can do. If you give him space, even from 35ft, that's a bucket. As we saw last night if you press up and run him off the line, he's so much better at attacking and finishing at the rim. His patience off the dribble is worlds better than previous versions of Pritchard, and we saw that with both assists to Queta for easy lobs and layups for himself. 

The leap that Pritchard has made this season should absolutely not be overlooked, especially with no KP and Jaylen missing last night. He's way more than just a spot up C&S player now, and he's off to a hell of a start in terms of a 6MOY campaign. For my money this is way better than the Brogdon Experience when he won it, so if Pritchard can sustain this production there's no reason to think he won't win it too.

- Anyone who has watched this team to begin the year knows that their defense has not been anywhere close to the level it needs to be if the Celts want to repeat as champions. They're giving up 60+ point first halfs, endless amounts of 30+ point quarters, easy buckets in transition etc.

So far they've been floating around the 10th ranked defense, which for some teams might be great, but for this team it's actually pretty embarrassing given all the plus defenders on their roster. 

But you know what? Holding opponents to 109 points or fewer in 3 of their last 4 games shows progress. The Celts didn't give up a single 30 point quarter last night, and things look even better outside of some garbage time Hornets buckets (again). 

While I definitely think they need to hone in their opponent 3P production as the Hornets made another 17 3PM after making 19 3PM in the first game, there's reason to believe that eventually, water will find its level for this team defensively. As we know, their defense is the foundation to their success. If they don't defend, they die.

- He gets a lot of flack for some reason, but shoutout Luke Kornet. I'll go to my grave believing you will not find a better 3rd center in the NBA than Kornet. 

19/4/3/1/2 on 6-6 and 7-7 from the FT line in his 29 minutes, what a monster performance from Luke. Granted the Hornets literally did not have an opposing center play in this game, but whatever. Make the most of those opportunities, which is exactly what Kornet did.

When you watch Kornet play with the starters, you can see why things work so well. The chemistry is off the charts. The way Kornet thrives in the short roll either as a passer to an open shooter or a play finisher at the rim, this part of his game cannot be overstated. Once you have that trust, anything is possible. He's gotten so much better at not having stone hands, he always knows where to go with the ball before the play even gets to him, and what he does from the FT is legit incredible for a 7fter. 

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- Another game, another instance where Jrue Holiday continues to make massive momentum shifting 3s. Of all the parts of Jrue's start to the season, this is what has stood out the most to me. Whenever this team has needed a big time bucket, he's delivered

These are the types of shots that break your spirit. As a reminder, Jrue is shooting over 50% from three to start the season, and this is coming off a year in which he shot 42% and 40% in the playoffs. I think it's fair to suggest that he's thriving in his new role as a Celtic, and on nights where Jaylen or Tatum might be out it's nice to have this in your backpocket.

All we have to do is get him to figure out his point blank layups, and then we're really cooking.

- The same praise should be given to Derrick White. Just a tremendous Celtic in every aspect.

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The 3s, the rim protection late, the defense, the hustle, every time we see White on the floor it's a joy to watch. He's another guy who you never have to worry about when it comes to picking up the slack when a main scorer is out. Ever since he went bald, Derrick White has been able to mold his game into whatever the team needs in that moment. Elite offense? No problem. Boards? Sure! Rim protection? You betcha!

He even got a nice little shot in on Grant in the final seconds which you know was for his best bud Jayson Tatum. 

- We hear a lot about what the Celts do when their 3s don't fall. It mostly comes from people who don't really watch every game and realize the Celts are still a wagon even without the 3s, and this game was a decent example of that. They finished just 16-52 (30%), so what did they do? They attacked the paint (34 points) and got to the FT line (28 FTA), all without their best post up player. 

Even after their run last year, there still seems to be this idea that the Celts do nothing but shoot 3s, and that is so insulting in my opinion. Mazzulla Ball is whatever the game needs on any given night. That's what makes it so impossible to stop. If you're telling me the Celts can shoot 30% from deep and still win by double digits, well I'd say that's a pretty good sign. As we know, if they shoot even league average (34%), that's a 30 point win. So to have double digit winds when you shoot the ball like shit is pretty awesome I can't lie.

The Bad

- Outside of the opener, I'm not sure the Celts have played a truly dominant 48 minute game. There seems to be one quarter where they are complete ass, and last night it was the 3rd quarter. Only 17 points on 28/13% with 5 TOs, I'm not sure it gets much worse than that.

It was a little surprising they came out flat, and in my opinion there was way too much settling going on offensively. No real ball movement, no real player movement, just a whole bunch of low percentage 3s and lazy defense. Tatum and White combined to go just 1-9 (0-7) in their minutes which were mostly gross, and it's partially why this game was within striking distance in the 4th quarter. 

- Maybe it's their cold shooting recently, but the Celts assist production has been pretty shitty for the last handful of games. In their last 4 games, the Celts rank 27th in AST% at just 55.5%. That stinks. They're 25th in assists per game at just 22.0, and this is a team that was 5th last year at 29.8. Obviously shot makers like KP and Jaylen not being active matter, but if we're being objective about things then we cannot say the ball movement has been good enough these last handful of games. 

Even if you look more at potential assists, that number is only around 47.3, which is a dropoff of their 52.5 last year (4th best in the NBA).

- Really wish Jordan Walsh knocked down those two open 3s off Tatum passes. Not because it was a factor in this game, but because of what it can do for his confidence. If he's going to be on the floor then those are the looks he's going to have to make because if not, defenses are going to keep spamming Tatum and dare Walsh to beat them.

I'm not saying he needs to be Sam Hauser, but he needs to be able to keep the defense honest while sharing the floor with Tatum and the rest of the bench.

The Ugly

- With no bozo Grant Williams play this time around, there wasn't too much I felt like fit this section as nothing was truly horrific. Maybe the shooting? 43/30% as a team definitely stinks. Getting outshot 91-82 should never happen in my opinion, but that's the problem with 15 TOs. 

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When the Celts don't care of the basketball, they allow other teams to hang around. The Hornets were much better last night in terms of points in transition with 19, and to me that's the one thing I haven't loved recently. Way too careless with the basketball which leads to easy momentum makes for their opponent. We saw it against the Pacers, and we saw it again last night.

But hey, 6-1 is 6-1. While things certainly don't look perfect, it's also only November 3rd. I'd much rather have room for improvement while winning as opposed to what we're seeing with teams like MIL/DEN/PHI etc. The standard is high as the defending champs, and honestly I don't even feel like the Celts have come close to touching their ceiling. 

The fact that they are this good even despite that, is pretty remarkable.