How To Justify Jayson Tatum’s Shaky Start During Celtics’ Season Opener

There’s no beating around the bush when it comes to the fact that Jayson Tatum did not uphold his end of the bargain offensively Wednesday night.

The Boston Celtics’ season tipped off with a 138-134 double-overtime defeat against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

For anyone who tuned in, you know that Jaylen Brown was a beast with his offensive contributions for the team, while Tatum fell short.

Tatum contributed just 20 points, which is not what we are used to seeing from the NBA All-Star who averaged 26.4 points per game during the 2020-21 season.

But everyone has off days, don’t they? We have to give him some leeway as this was only the first game of the 2021-22 NBA season. According to longtime NBA reporter Keith Smith, Tatum acknowledged during a postgame interview that he typically will find himself having one of these types of games each season, and is hoping that one was it.

According to NBA data via Smith, Tatum shot 4-of-18 on open to wide-open shots including 2-of-13 from behind the arc. Tatum was missing shots all around which clearly was identified by his 1-for-8 on contested shots and just 6-of-22 on uncontested shots.

Celts fans shouldn’t be worried by Tatum’s rocky start. Even head coach Ime Udoka thinks his team should be able to bounce back quickly come Friday’s matchup against the Toronto Raptors at TD Garden.

“It’s a tough one to give away, especially when you worked your way to get back in it,” Udoka told reporters, per the team. “But it’s only the first game and so we’ve got to bounce back Friday at home.”

The Celtics on Friday welcome the Raptors to TD Garden for a 7:30 p.m. ET tip.