It has been a sensational story for the Boston Celtics and their talisman Jayson Tatum. The youngster has been sensational for the Celtics all through the regular season and has continued that in the playoffs as he won the Larry Bird Eastern Conference MVP award, as Ime Udoka’s men reached the NBA Finals after beating the Miami Heat.
However, Tatum’s primary concern has been with his consistency this season. He has often dropped stinkers which has led to trouble for the Celtics this season. He once again repeated that in Game 1 of the finals against the Warriors. However, great efforts from Derrick White and Al Horford meant that the Celtics would start off with a win on the road.
But this has been a concern for Tatum as the Celtics have had to rely on players like Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Al Hoirford or DerrickWhite to bail them out of the mess. Tatum still found 13 assists on the night as he kept the offense flowing.
A lot more is expected from the three time All Star as Celtics aim to win their first title since 2008. Tatum came back with a better outing in Game 2 as he led the scoring for the Celtics with28 points but it was not enough as the Warriors crushed them 107-88 to win Game 2 and tie the series 1-1 heading to Boston.
NBA expert Colin Cowherd recently criticised Jayson Tatum’s inconsistent performances and attributed them to his tendency to lack confidence in his abilities. He compared him with some of the stalwarts of the league like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan and highlighted how these players went short of confidence.
“Jayson Tatum is a star with the role player’s confidence,” Cowherd said. “Tatum is starting to doubt himself. He was hot briefly yesterday, but finished with the worst plus-minus of any player on either team.
“He’s not the confident star that we’re used to in this league. Steph never loses confidence, MJ, LeBron never loses confidence or rarely, Tatum loses it every other quarter.”
With the series heading to Boston, it is time for Tatum to shine as they have split the home court advantage for the Warriors and will look to hold these two matches. For that Ime Udoka needs his best player to shine the brightest and deliver a match defining performance as they look to create history by winning the 18th NBA Championship..
