The Boston Celtics have rarely struggled with anything this season, but they are still murmurs about the team’s superstar Jayson Tatum and his ability to close games out. In a thriller against the Atlanta Hawks, Tatum had the chance to win it for his team, but the Boston forward missed the final shot of the regulation.
In his defense, it was tough leaning three with 2 players close to him. However, the Celtics’ superstar knows that the noise around his ability to be the closer has been intensified during the last few seasons. After Boston’s 122-123 loss to Atlanta, the 5-time All-Star expressed his opinion on the discussion around him and his ability to make plays late.
“I know I missed a couple this year,” Tatum said after the game MassLive. “So I was like, ‘Damn, I gotta be due for one.’ I hit a bunch of them in my career so far. That’s part of it. Make-or-miss league. I enjoy being in those situations.”
In the overtime, Jaylen Brown took the responsibility to put the Celtics ahead 122-121 with a mid-range jumper and six seconds remaining on the clock. However, the Hawks had the last laugh as Dejounte Murray connected on his 44th shot in the game to give Atlanta the win. Murray finished the contest with 44 points- 11 of them came in the overtime.
Aside from his late possession miss, Jayson Tatum led Boston with 31 points and 13 rebounds, but was unable to prevent his team’s second defeat against the Atlanta Hawks, who nailed their fourth straight victory.
The Celtics are in the best position possible heading to the postseason. They have already clinched their place in the playoffs and the team is set to finish with the best record in the NBA, which means that they will have home advantage until the Finals if they can get out of the East.
That said, two close losses against the Hawks should not be considered an issue from head coach Joe Mazzula at this point of the season.
Jayson Tatum is the Boston Celtics superstar, but is he “clutch”?
The Boston Celtics squad have some much star power that rarely Jayson Tatum had to take over during the closing minutes. With 10 games remaining in the regular season, Tatum and co. played meaningful basketball in just 29 games and won 18 of them. The Celtics are a +14.4 per game in clutch minutes with Tatum on the floor.
Despite bringing in Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, Tatum’s activity did not change from last season. However, the narrative of his late possessions shortcomings has been established during the last season’s playoffs, where the Celtics were an -11.4 with Tatum on the floor in clutch time.
That said, Tatum also has recorded so many good moments in the playoffs as the Celtics hasn’t missed a postseason since Tatum was part of the team in 2017. With Tatum in the team, the Celtics have made the Eastern Conference Finals 4 of the 6 times they were in the postseason, while they appeared in an NBA Finals in 2022.
Let’s not forget that the Duke product still is at 26 years old. He and the Boston Celtics will enter the 2024 postseason as the grand favorites, it remains to be seen if Tatum can carry his team to the promise land.
