Jayson Tatum is trying to improve as a closer while also developing into a legitimate playmaker this season.
And as the Boston Celtics defeated the Pistons on Sunday, two days after falling to Detroit in another down-to-the-wire game, we saw that effort.
All tied up on Boston’s final offensive possession of the game, Marcus Smart let the clock wind down before passing it off to Tatum on his left at the top of the key.
Off the dribble, Tatum pulled up for a 17-foot jumper to score the go-ahead points. From there, the Detroit Pistons really only had enough time to inbound the ball, and the 22-year-old locked down Blake Griffin at half court to ensure the 122-120 victory for the Celtics.
He finished with 24 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and a career-high 12 assists.
“Being in that situation where the game is on the line, you know I want to be in that situation,” Tatum told reporters postgame. “So it’s just learn from the shots you do make, learn from the shots you don’t, but I always want to be in that situation.”
Open looks have become harder to come by for Tatum as teams trap or send double teams. It’s caused the fourth-year pro to expand his game as a passer, and the play he made offensively a few sequences before the game-winner showed his composure facilitating.
Tatum faked a drive to the hoop with 34 seconds left and kicked it out to Jaylen Brown, who sunk a 3-pointer to take a two-point lead.
“The last two plays were great, they executed great. I thought they executed well the other day, they just missed the shot,” Brad Stevens said after the game. “I don’t think you can overreact in my shoes to shots made or missed. But multiple plays late in the game that I thought we executed well on. “
So what was Tatum more proud of? Pulling off the game-winning shot or making the clutch pass that helped them stay in the game?
“Hand in hand,” Tatum said.
Yeah, we can see that.
Here are a few other takeaways from Boston’s win over Detroit:
— This is the section where we talk about how well Jaylen Brown performed, which probably is going to be a regular occurrence this year.
His game-high 31 points were the result of him carrying the Celtics on his back through most of the game. He shot 81.3% from the field and 62.5% from deep against the Pistons, dropping 22 first-half points.
Brown also had three assists. And while it should be noted that he failed to record a steal for only the second time in a game this season, and was responsible for six of Boston’s 17 turnovers, the 24-year-old can’t seem to miss lately.
Exhibit A:
— Don’t let Tatum’s game-winner or Brown blowing up the stat sheet every night let you overlook Smart’s contributions against Detroit, and all season.
Stepping up in place of Kemba Walker at starting point guard, Smart had a 17-point, 10-assist double-double.
“If I’m open, I’m shooting. If the guy’s closing out, I’ve gotta be able to do what I’ve been doing my whole career and that’s getting to the rim, playmaking for not just myself but for others,” Smart said of his shot selection after the game. “So that’s it, just making the read. They did a good job of closing out on me and not allowing me to get those attempts off, so I just took the easy play and took what the defense gave me.”
He’s stepped up into exactly the role that Stevens hoped he would, having to rely on Smart and Tatum much more as facilitators early in the season.
“I think he’s really tried. These seven games, I think I said this earlier, he’s our only guy above five assists on our team,” Stevens said of Smart. “So he’s trying to get us organized, he’s trying to get us in a place where everyone can be successful. He directed, he knew time and score at the end when we were talking in the huddle and when we got the ball to Jayson to shoot it only with enough time that they would have to heave it.
“I think he’s just one of those guys right? No one is going to say anything if he drives in there and makes it. He’s bailed us out on so many occasions throughout the years that I appreciate how much he’s trying to do the right thing on every possession.”
Smart is averaging 6.2 assists per game, well above the 4.9 average he recorded in the 2019-20 season which was a career high.
And you can add all that offensive orchestrating on top of everything Smart means to the Celtics defensively.
“Marcus Smart is the heart and soul of this team,” Brown said of his teammate. “His energy and his poise has been great for us. They asked him to step up and play the point guard position and he’s matched that. He got me easy baskets. He got Jayson easy baskets. He got himself easy baskets as well. So I’m proud to see Marcus Smart grow and the responsibility that he’s gotten he’s handled it.”
— Boston still isn’t living up to its defensive potential or, frankly, expectations.
It improved this time around against Detroit, despite Blake Griffin being available Sunday, but the Pistons had a great shooting night until the final stretch and put up 120 points.
“We allowed the game to be closer than it should have been. Give a lot of credit to Detroit once again, I though we played a lot better defense and they still hit some good shots,” Brown said after the game.
“We have to do a better job of raising our intensity and stopping those guys. The game don’t have to come down those last-minute possessions but when they do, it’s a process. And today was part of that process.”
Oddly, both Smart and Brown failed to record either a block or a steal in the contest, and Boston turned the ball over 17 times.
There’s work to do there, and it starts with Stevens going through the tape.
“I think I’ll go back and look and say it was better than the result,” Stevens said. “I thought (Detroit) did go and hit a lot of tough shots. They had several plays in the first half and the second quarter where the shot
“We played better defense today. Our energy was better today. But that’s why you have to bring it every night, because these guys are NBA players. They’re going to make tough shots sometimes.”
— The Celtics return to action Monday as they travel to Tampa Bay to face the Raptors at 7:30 p.m. ET.
