The first two games of the Boston Celtics first round playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets hasn't been an offensive showcase for star forward Jayson Tatum.
But other parts of Tatum's skill set, especially his defense, have rose to the forefront to help Boston take a 2-0 lead in the series.
Tatum's defense was particularly strong in Boston's 114-107 Game 2 victory on Wednesday night at TD Garden. Tatum proved to be an integral piece in shutting down Nets' star Kevin Durant, who struggled through a 4-for-17 shooting performance, including going 0-for-10 from the floor in the second half.
Matched up as Durant's primary defender for 10 and a half minutes in the game, Tatum limited the sensational scorer to four points along with an 0-for-7 showing from the field and three turnovers, according to NBC Sports Boston's Chris Forsberg.
That isn't the only impressive stat that has summed up Tatum's dominant defense against the Nets, and specifically Durant.
In the two games of the series, Tatum has locked down the 6-foot-10 Durant by holding him to 2-for-13 shooting while forcing Durant into nearly as many turnovers (7) as points (8), per StatMuse.
Tatum had one of his best defensive sequences midway through the fourth quarter of Game 2. Tatum first stripped Kyrie Irving to force a turnover after Irving had grabbed an offensive rebound along the baseline and on the next defensive possession, Tatum swatted away a pull-up jumper from Durant.
The block of Durant was certainly eye-opening, especially since the former NBA MVP rarely sees his shot turned away.
"I don't know, maybe I'm getting lucky with a couple of those blocks," Tatum said, via NBC Sports Boston. "But I think as I said earlier, with somebody that's obviously one of the most gifted scorers that we've seen, so just knowing that it can't be easy, can't give him open looks, rhythm shots and things like that. We just follow the game plan and as best as we can try to make it tough for him."
If Boston's defense can continue to flummox Durant for the rest of the series, there's no doubt that Tatum will play a large role in it.
