The Golden State Warriors have a way of making Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum look average on the floor.
Tatum had another rough go of it against the Warriors in Saturday’s 123-107 loss at Chase Center, shooting just 6-for-21 from the field and finishing with 18 points.
At first, Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla tried to shoulder the blame for an off-showing from Tatum, who has played like an MVP candidate for much of this season.
“He doesn’t have to do anything better. We have to be better. The staff has to be better. I have to be better,” Mazzulla told reporters, as seen on NBC Sports Boston postgame coverage. “We just got to put him in better spots in certain moments of the game, feel the game and get him to his spots where he can make a play for our team.”
But Tatum wasn’t having that as he owned his performance.
“I just got to be better,” Tatum told reporters, as seen on NBC Sports Boston postgame coverage. “I missed a lot of layups. Missed some open threes. Things like that. There’s nobody to blame but myself. I got to be better to help the team win. So, it’s not anything on the coaches or anything like that.”
While Tatum, who missed six of his seven first-quarter shot attempts, didn’t make any excuses for his on-court play, he did look to brush it off as just one game in a season of 82 of them. His mindset of looking to what next helps him do just that as Tatum will look to bounce back Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
“I’m a big believer in great games, bad games it’s over with. There’s nothing I can do about what just happened,” Tatum said. “But get some rest, watch some film and get ready for Monday. That’s as honest as I can be.”
