“When You Don’t Get the Ultimate Goal…”: Rachel Nichols Addresses Pressure Building Up on Jayson Tatum and Celtics

Championships are more or less the parameter to measure success in the league. And the Boston Celtics have been deprived of this since the 2007-08 season. When Jayson Tatum was drafted by the franchise in 2017, Celtics fans put all hopes on him. While the team has been brilliant in the last seven seasons, Tatum’s efforts have failed to take them over the hump. During a recent appearance on ‘The Herd’, Rachel Nichols claimed that this has led to immense pressure on his shoulders.

The drought inside the Boston trophy cabinet has made the 5-time All-Star’s life a bit difficult. Even though he has had some MVP-worthy seasons, he has been continuously criticized for lacking a ring.

Nichols praised the team for maintaining a good record but believes that Tatum and the Celtics are feeling the pressure of their consistent failures over the years. She said,

“The Boston Celtics…have made the Conference Finals five of the last seven years, that’s spectacular.” She said that there are teams in the league with more hype than the Celtics, but they haven’t made half the impact as them.

The Celtics have made the Conference Finals five of the past seven years – think of all the teams who’ve fallen way shorter despite way more hype. Does that give Boston confidence? Or is having had all those chances and not yet having broken through bringing too much pressure? pic.twitter.com/FFUSlffwD0

— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) May 12, 2024

The analyst added, “The problem is, when you don’t get the ultimate goal done, even the middle part sometimes star to feel squishy.” She also stated that the absence of Kristaps Porzingis will also be a difference maker for the Celtics as he is not expected to be back anytime soon.

Right now, the Celtics are leading 2-1 against the Cavs in the Conference Semifinals. They will at least hope to play another final this year as they were the strongest team in the league in the regular season and the only team with 60+ wins. However, their home record is worrisome.

Jayson Tatum’s Celtics have been poor at home

Home-court advantage almost works like a cheat code for teams. The familiar court, environment, and the electrifying energy from the fans inside the home arena set up the home team for a dub. The Boston fans are notorious for their love for the team, but still, the Celtics have lost as many playoff games at home as they’ve won in the last 30 matchups.

https://twitter.com/CTabatabaie/status/1788756387574558747

Maintaining a 15-15 playoff record at home is simply outrageous for the Celtics. However, their star player Jaylen Brown isn’t going to lose sleep over it as he believes that living in the present is a better approach than worrying about records.

When asked by a reporter about the home record, he said, “I’m only concerned with this year.” Well, the Celtics fans would hope that the confidence would translate into something on the court, or else, Game 5 at TD Garden will tip the scale in the opposition’s favor.

Tatum is certainly one of the best in the league currently. Struggling in a playoff series with one of the weaker teams in the post-season would hamper the Celtics’ confidence going ahead in the tournament. This is a golden opportunity for the Missouri-born rookie to bag a ring and shut up the naysayers as the team has been awesome in the regular season.