Jayson Tatum Pinpoints ‘Missing Piece’ In Celtics’ Quest for NBA Title

Could Kristaps Porzingis be the guy who gets the Celtics over the hump?

Jayson Tatum believes so, comparing Porzingis’ early impact with Boston to the success the Lakers enjoyed after Pau Gasol joined Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles in 2008.

“Kobe really needed Pau for those last two championships that they won together,” Tatum said, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne in a piece published Thursday. “Whatever path that I’m on and we’re on, KP really feels like the missing piece.”

The Lakers won back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010 after losing to the Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals. While it’s obviously difficult to attach such lofty expectations to any team or individual player, Boston clearly is in championship or bust mode after several close calls in recent years.

The Celtics lost to the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 Finals and then came up one win short of returning to basketball’s biggest stage last season, falling to the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals after rallying from a 3-0 deficit.

Trading for Porzingis this past summer was a bold move by the Celtics, as it required them to surrender Marcus Smart, long viewed as Boston’s heart and soul, particularly on the defensive end. But Porzingis has been an excellent fit with the C’s, adding a whole new dynamic to Boston’s offense.

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“He definitely surprised me in the sense I didn’t really know him,” Tatum said, according to Shelburne. “I only knew him from the handful of times I played against him, but he’s lived up to all the hype.

“We struggled last year against Miami because they were switching, and we didn’t have anybody to really throw the ball to, to expose their switching. They took advantage of us on that, and KP is like the ultimate answer for that.”

Boston’s roster is stacked with talent beyond Tatum — looking at you, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White — but Porzingis has a unique scoring touch for his size, with the ability to thrive in the post or as part of the Celtics’ pick-and-roll game.

The missing piece of the puzzle? He just might be. And the C’s found him, which is bad news for the rest of the NBA.