Ime Udoka wasn’t thrilled with how the Boston Celtics performed on their five-game Western Conference road trip last week, and it prompted some soul searching for the team.
Udoka and the Celtics then went over and dissected the film upon returning to Boston following three straight losses, and during that time he had a specific message for Jayson Tatum. Tatum, who led the Celtics to a 117-104 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night, seemed to respond to it quite well.
“You know, all these guys are working out together in summer, they spend a lot of time together whether it’s All-Star games and all that. And, quite honestly, I gave Jayson examples of what I used to say to Kawhi (Leonard) as a young rookie, and respecting guys too much at times,” Udoka said after Monday’s win. “I told him, ‘These guys aren’t your older brother. Don’t treat them like that.’ And he took it to heart and came out in attack mode tonight.”
Tatum finished with a season-high 42 points on 16-for-25 from the field. He added five rebounds, four assists and three steals to go along with it.
“But it’s across the board, our whole group, we know what we have to do to be effective,” Udoka continued. “And if my guys know me, I said ‘I’m most competitive guy and I want to see that reflect on you guys.’ And so, like I said, they took the tape to heart, bounced back tonight.”
The Celtics snapped their three-game skid with arguably their most impressive win of the season. Al Horford, Grant Williams and the Boston defense held Giannis Antetokounmpo to 20 points on 7-for-14 from the field all while the Celtics recorded 31 assists on 43 made baskets.
Boston got back to .500 with the win and now will host the Golden State Warriors on Friday.
