Recent experience has taught the Boston Celtics to be wary of the limelight.
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum revealed to NBA TV on Friday why the team enjoys not being in the spotlight amid their impressive start to the 2019-20 NBA regular season. Tatum believes a relative lack of attention has allowed the Celtics to maintain their focus on developing into a team capable of making a deep run in the NBA playoffs.
“We actually like not being the center of attention this year like last year,” Tatum said Friday at TD Garden following the Celtics’ 129-117 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. “This year we get to focus on us and take it one game at a time. There weren’t a lot of expectations coming into the season, and we weren’t concerned about it. We just work to focus on us as a team and getting better each and every day.
“Obviously we feel like we can compete with anybody. We’re not perfect and we’re not where we want to be. We obviously want to continue to get better, it’s a long season. But we like where we’re at. We’ve got to just keep it going.”
.@jaytatum0 joins @RoParrish and @SamMitchellNBA to discuss Boston’s win over the Cavs and how the Celtics have been playing under the radar all season. pic.twitter.com/qavdZKZR66
— NBA TV (@NBATV) December 27, 2019
Tatum’s comparison to last season’s team is telling, as the 2018-19 Celtics started the season with the highest of expectations but ultimately never came close to fulfilling them.
Most predicted at the start of this season the Philadelphia 76ers or Milwaukee Bucks would win the Eastern Conference, but the Celtics have forced themselves onto the NBA Finals contenders’ list. Boston has won five consecutive games and its 22-7 record is second-best in the Eastern Conference behind only Milwaukee’s 28-5 mark.
The Celtics will be able to fly under the radar for another month or so before the NBA trade deadline and All-Star weekend ramp up the attention on Boston and speculation about its prospects for success. Until then, Tatum and Co. should keep enjoying the ride.
