Jayson Tatum is having the best season of his 6-year career. However, the Boston Celtics are slipping up at quite an inopportune time in the standings.
Advertisement
With just about 15 games left to play in the regular season, the Eastern Conference standings suggest that the Celtics are a bit off the pace. They started the season off in great form and have led the league table for most of it.
However, with 3 defeats in the past 4 games, they slid from 1st in the East to 2nd. The Bucks compounded their misery with a win of their own on a back-to-back.
The manner of their defeat last night would definitely sting for Boston. They held a 14-point lead in the 3rd quarter before going down by 11. Then, down by 7 with 2 minutes to go, they successfully forced overtime.
However, going into double-OT and down by 2, they elected to go for the win. Jayson Tatum found Al Horford on a corner 3, but his shot was agonizingly off the mark.
Horford misses the potential winning 3 in the corner. #Celtics lose to #Knicks 131-127. NYK winning streak continues. Tatum 40, Brown 29, Horford 20, Smart 13, White 12; Quickley 38, Randle 31, Barrett 29, Robinson 13 and 14 rebs., Hart 10.
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) March 6, 2023
Also Read – “I Might Be Drunk From All-Star Break”: Jayson Tatum’s 9-25 Shooting Has Him Thinking He’s Still Inebriated
Is Jayson Tatum playing tonight vs the Cavaliers?
Despite playing a whopping 49 minutes in the game last night, Tatum should be expected to suit up in the Celtics’ game at Cleveland tomorrow. His name has not been featured on the Celtics’ injury list.
Boston needs to stay in touch with the 1st-placed Bucks if they wish to secure the no. 1 seed. They rested Tatum with disastrous effect for their game against Milwaukee ahead of the All-Star break. The team wouldn’t want to repeat the same mistake again in a deficit.
Joe Mazzulla’s level of concern over the timing of the Celtics’ struggles coming late in the season: “Zero.”
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) March 6, 2023
Tatum is among the best-conditioned athletes in the league and is near the top of the minutes leaderboard. At 25 years of age, he should be able to navigate this situation better than most NBA players.
Tatum stats this season
Jayson Tatum ranks 6th in the points per game leaderboard this season at 30.7. Averaging his best scoring output ever, Tatum also leads the league in total points scored.
The superstar forward is adding 7.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game to his scoring output as well. He’s also staking his candidature for an All-Defensive team, although he’ll likely be overlooked.
