Jayson Tatum Pulled Off One Of The Coldest Game Winners Of The Season To Bury The Pelicans

Layne Murdoch Jr.. Getty Images.

Well, that could have been a disaster. If that feels familiar, it's because the exact same thing was said after the first Pelicans/Celtics game, when the champs squeaked out a narrow 120-119 win because CJ McCollum missed a floater off the glass as time expired. Whatever, survive and advance.

Last night? The injury-ravaged Pelicans (lost Dejounte Murray early to a torn Achilles) who were already without Zion, Herb Jones, Jordan Hawkins, Daniel Theis etc once again took the Celtics down to the final few possessions. It was your classic Celtics double digit favorite experience. We've all lived that before. The Celts coming off a win over the last two months have legit been a lottery team in terms of their record, a bunch of guys were out and they were double digit favorites? No shit the Pelicans played them close. That's how it works. They may be the only team in the NBA that has this issue, but whatever. They find ways to win and that's all that matters. I have no problem with a little competition or this team being in positions where execution on both ends of the floor is needed. That shit is fun. It's taking years off my life sure, but it's electric. 

Would I have preferred another 30+ win and all the starters getting to sit the 4th quarter for the rest? Sure, I'll never turn down blowouts and rest. But for a team that's had execution issues over the last 2 months, I also don't hate getting those reps either. I know the Celts can blow teams out when they play well, so I think there's value to being on the road in high leverage situations and needing to come through both defensively and offensively in order to pull out a win. 

I will also remind you of the #1 rule of the regular season. At no point, under any circumstances, do you ever apologize for winning. That any time you end a game with more points than your opponent, it's actually good! It's about stacking Ws, period. That's it. I don't care if it's by 1 against a bad/injured team or by 40. Just win the goddamn game and move on to the next.

Regardless of record or who might be available, one thing this season has shown us is every single team is getting up for the champs. That's the respect you earn as the King. NBA players are good, even on dogshit teams, and that's the beauty of the NBA. On any given night you can get caught regardless of who you're playing. 

In those moments, your best players have to carry you. 

You'll never believe this, but that's exactly what happened. Let's dive in.

The Good

- New blog rule, if you hit a game winner, you start the blog. Before we get into the details, let's first all enjoy what was arguably Tatum's best game in weeks

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Last night was the first time since 1/17 that we saw Tatum finish with over 25 points. He was finally efficient (47/40%), his playmaking was great and outside of his turnover issues (5), this was the most Jayson Tatum has looked like Jayson Tatum in forever. You got a great example of why Ime and Bill Donovan did nothing but double Tatum in the previous two games. Willie Green decided not to, and well, when you don't force the ball out of Tatum's hands, he's going to beat you. 

What makes him so devastating is the ways he can beat you. When Tatum doesn't have to worry about the double, all it takes is a quick switch to get a smaller player on him, and then he remembers he's 6'10 and strong as shit and gets to the rim with ease

The game winner gets a lot of attention, but do not sleep on this moment. This is where we got a look at Tatum's 4th quarter mindset, which was exactly what many fans want from him in that moment. If you have a smaller player on you, go to the fucking rim and finish strong. Punch with efficiency, especially at that point in the game when things are still somewhat in the balance. 

Sometimes, once a team sees Tatum be aggressive like that out of the post, they realize they should probably send help. This is where Tatum's experience comes into play, and I am so grateful that opposing coaches continue to give him regular season reps to deal with this. When the double from Alvarado comes not only does Tatum not turn the ball over, he makes the right play, and the Basketball Gods reward him

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When it came to the game winner, it was once again 10 out of 10 execution. With 24 seconds left, the only thing you need to remember is do not leave time on the clock. Make or miss, just make sure you don't give them a chance to respond. Instead of settling, Tatum was once again aggressive. Attacking his mismatch and getting to his spot then going up with confidence. There was no hesitation or double clutch before he shot it. There was no side step fadeaway. It was perfect

That angle might be the coldest game winner you're ever going to see. It legit looks like a 2K commercial. The camera work, Tatum's face, the reaction, it's all perfect.

One of the weirdest narratives pushed out mostly by fanbases who are extremely hurt Jayson Tatum keeps beating their favorite team is that he's not "clutch". I'm pretty sure that was the talking point of an entire postseason run. In reality, he's been one of the most clutch players in the entire NBA since he entered the league. This is fact, not opinion

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This is how you know Tatum is one of them ones. Where people now have to pretend his career doesn't exist, all to push a false narrative. Not only is he clutch, but nobody in the entire NBA has made more go ahead/tie FGM in the last 8 seasons. That's the person what weirdos suggest is not clutch. Make that make sense. Just this week Tatum has made a game tying layup and a game winning jumper. This is what he does.

- What this game provided was the perfect example of why the Celtics are champions, and why this has never been and never will be a Jayson vs Jaylen thing. What makes the Celtics the Celtics is because you have and use THEM BOTH. They are perfectly complementary to one another in terms of their style of play, skill set, and overall personality. 

The Celts don't win this game if they get this Tatum performance but a no show from Jaylen. They also don't win with Jaylen's performance and a no show by Tatum. The power and the dominance comes from having to deal with both. 

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28/6/4 on 11-18 (3-6) with only 1 TO in his 34 minutes, it's really starting to feel like Jaylen is playing his way out of his efficiency slump. Since the GS win (7 games), Jaylen is back to 50% from the floor on 18 shots a night. The 3 ball still needs some work (33%), but when you watch his attempts he looks way more confident in it which to me is half the battle. We see the same thing with Derrick and Tatum. Confidence is everything when digging out of a slump.

Not only is Jaylen starting to get back to more efficient scoring, but we also should not overlook what he's doing as a passer. Over his last 5 games Jaylen has 23 total assists and just 3 total TOs. A 7:1 ratio?? Jaylen Brown??? 

Yes. This is what a passing leap looks like.

When it came to his massive shot, am I the only one who got Game 3 of the Finals flashbacks? He didn't double clutch before going up this time, but it was generally pretty similar

Just like we saw in the playoffs from Round 1 through Game 5 of the Finals, the Jays came through. Each in their own unique way, each vital to the overall success, and each fun as shit to watch. 

Why some are obsessed with some sort of weird Civil War, I'll never understand. We are blessed to have both. Having both is why they are champions and relying on both is how they are going to repeat as champions. 

- In what was probably his first poor shooting performance in two months, it's great that even when his shot is struggling KP is still finding ways to make a massive impact on both ends of the floor. Every single game he plays I continue to walk away in awe of what this man is capable of on both ends of the floor, and with each passing game he continues to look better and better and better

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It's no surprise that as soon as KP got back into the lineup, the Celts rim defense returned to the best in the NBA. You'll remember in the non-KP games it didn't matter who the Celts were playing, that team was feasting at the rim. With KP? That's been completely shut off. 

Offensively, I loved how once the game got tight the Celts remembered they can always run the "just lob it to the 7'3 guy" play which pretty much no team has an answer for when KP is in the paint, especially against a smaller player. His 7 points in the 4th (2-2) were huge, and if not for the 4 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) missed FTs his night would have looked even better. His buckets were huge down the stretch because they were what I would call "exhale" buckets.

The Pelicans were shifting the momentum and seemingly couldn't miss, which made the Celts' execution on the other end extremely important. You could not go empty on those trips. Making them take the ball out of the basket was crucial, and getting any sort of response/separation is how you survive those shifts in momentum. That's what those KP buckets accomplished.

But seriously, make your fucking FTs. That was insane. 

- I'm not going to overreact just yet, but it's looking more and more like Derrick White is working his way out of his shooting slump

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Over his last 3 games, DWhite is now back to 48/42% with 3.7 3PM on 8.7 3PA. The Celtics have won all 3.

Last night was 55/50% with another massive 4th quarter 3PM which is sneaky how you can tell Derrick is starting to get back to his old self. No player on the roster makes more big time 4th quarter 3PM than Derrick White. That's his thing. So when I saw him relocate to the corner and then hit that shit pure, it was as if life had been restored back into my body.

If those KP buckets were "exhale" buckets, what Derrick makes are what I would call the "backbreaking" buckets. When teams trap Tatum and he swings it over to a wide open Derrick 3, when that shot is going in it deflates the opponent. They now realize that they can't even double Tatum anymore, and they know what happens once he gets single coverage. This is why the off ball shooting and C&S production from every Celtic not named Jayson Tatum is so important. You're going to get the ball and the open looks in situations you HAVE to make. Whether that was Derrick White from the corner last night or Al Horford in the ECF vs IND. Making that shot on a consistent basis is key to everything.

- Another solid Mazzulla Ball showing and they needed every bit of it. 50/39% from the floor, 16 3PM on 41 3PA so the volume was there and a total of 32 AST. The Celts are undefeated this season when they finish with 30+ assists, and this game was another perfect example of why Mazzulla Ball works. In 2024, you need to stay close in the shot margin, and if your opponent is going to get up 3s, you have to do the same.

NO finished 15-37 (40%), which means had the Celts not played their normal way and got up their normal volume, they'd lose this game. Trading 2s for 3s does not work when the other team is making 3s at a high clip. You have to fight fire with fire, and last night the outside shooting came through.

- When I tell you Luke Kornet was perfect, I'm not being hyperbolic. He was legitimately perfect. 4-4 from the floor, 3-3 from the line, Kornet finished with a 103% TS% so really, he was better than perfect. 

This is the Celts 3rd center by the way. Just wanted to point that out.

The Bad

- He has lifetime immunity of course, but this was not the best we've ever seen Al Horford play. Even coming off the rest, maybe it was rust? Just 1-5 (0-2) from he floor, I watched him get outrebounded by smaller players simply because he can't jump as high any more, and defensively he looked a tad slow.

Maybe that toe was acting up or something, but Horford is too important to be a non-factor in any area while he's on the court. The good news is he rarely has nights like this, but boy do I want to get to the All Star break just so Al can have a week off.

- I wasn't exactly thrilled seeing Payton Pritchard get so severely outplayed by Jose Alvarado. That's a matchup I'd expect Pritchard to either win or at least play even and that is not what we got. Pritchard did bust his ass defensively (3 steals) which made his minutes playable, but the lack of offensive production was a little shocking given this is a matchup he should feast in.

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It's not so much the 1-4 (1-3) as much as it is why the hell is he only taking 4 shots. A lot of his possessions felt like him dribbling around and not really being aggressive, and while you can credit NO to some degree, it was just a weird Payton night for the most part. He didn't seem as aggressive, and to me that's half the battle with his role. He has to be aggressive with that second unit, especially if Al isn't hitting shots. In this game, really only Hauser was aggressive (3-6, 3-6), and the bench production difference was the story of the game.

Pelicans won that battle 43-27, and it's why this game was close to begin with.

- I'm not going to call Trey Murphy's 40 ball and 8-12 from 3PT "fake" because he's a really good shooter who has been scoring the shit out of the ball this season.

But I will say it's starting to get outrageous how the Celts have to deal with shit like this every single night

Shit like this is why I get so triggered when people tell me "well maybe the Celtics shouldn't leave guys open!!". It's as if they aren't watching the actual games or something. Every single one of Murphy's 3s was either contested, or was a 35ft bomb. That Jaylen defense was perfect, and he still banked it in.

It's getting insane how every single game they have to absorb someone making at least 7 3PM in a game. Taking that on the chin, on the road and still winning is great, but enough already. I'm tired. Can I please just have a game where everyone plays to their season averages? Can we not have career nights of 3PM every game, even when the Celtics actually play defense? Enough.

- While the Pelicans shotmaking was a little crazy at times, the fact of the matter is the Celts allowed 30+ points in 3 of the 4 quarters of this game. That, is very bad. It's no surprise the one quarter they played defense and allowed 19 points is when they got their separation that they would take until the final buzzer, and in some ways I'd say the Celts were pretty damn lucky to pull out this win.

48/40% and 116 points is not going to win you a lot of games on the road or anywhere if we're being honest. It's no different from the first NO game where they put up 119. For whatever reason, the Celts have not defended this team well.

- Am I the only one slightly concerned we keep getting Jrue Holiday CTE basketball moments in the 4th quarter? That shit has to be figured out. The whole appeal of Jrue Holiday is he's not going to fuck up in those moments, and yet he keeps fucking up in those moments. 

The Ugly

- I don't even know what to say about 18-26 from the FT line (69%) including 9-15 in the 4th quarter alone. KP missing 4, Tatum missing, Jaylen missing, what are we even doing. I don't know what they did to deserve the prayer of that not coming back to bite them in the ass, but dear god can we not troll from the FT line in the 4th quarter? Is that so hard?

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That's partially what makes these close games so annoying, they are only close because of self inflicted bullshit. If you look through the last 6-7 Celtics losses, they're missing 6+ FTs in all of them. I don't know if it's a lack of mental focus or what, but the way this team fucks around at the FT so consistently is a little alarming, and it's all their best players! 

- Every single night, every single game, the NBA's officiating problem rears its ugly head and potentially impacts a result. We saw it in the Grizzlies/Rockets game and we saw it again last night

In a close game, you simply cannot miss this call. What's the point of having 3 refs on the floor if you aren't going to see the most obvious shit? Going through the rim is illegal. It's goaltending. But by not calling it, you can't challenge it. KP missing that dunk made no sense in real time, and then you see the replay and it's as clear as day.

This coming in addition to ALL the bullshit we saw from Ed Malloy in this game, and I don't know how the NBA can stand by this. It's every game! Will there be any repercussions? Of course not. But between falling for bait time and time again, having an inconsistent whistle, giving techs to compound bad calls, and then missing a huge play like this, I mean what are we even doing.

As I said, a win is a win is a win. The Celts move to 18-6 on the road (best in the NBA), and now it's about keeping this train moving. Celts haven't won 3 in a row in forever, and they now head to PHI who has been playing better as of late before the big showdown with the Cavs. It does feel like they're starting to get back to themselves, but time will tell.