How Cavaliers Seek To Defend Jayson Tatum Amid Series Vs. Celtics

Jayson Tatum is the focal point of the Celtics offense, which has since made the five-time All-Star the subject of postseason criticism throughout Boston’s second-round playoff series against the Cavaliers.

Keeping Tatum at bay doesn’t guarantee Cleveland a wide-open lane across the finish line, but it does make it more difficult for Boston’s offense, especially without Kristaps Porzingis available. That burden hasn’t fallen on anyone specific, and collectively, the Cavaliers have done their job sticking by their overall effective game plan.

“I think the biggest thing is no one person is really going to stop him,” Cleveland’s Dean Wade explained after Monday’s shootaround practice, per CLNS Media. “It takes everyone on any player, especially Tatum. He’s very talented so (if) he gets by that first line, there’s got to be a second, third line, and I think there’s a couple of times last game where I made a mistake. I wasn’t helping on the second line and that cost us a few points here and there.”

In Game 1, an MVP-worthy performance from Tatum wasn’t required to defeat Cleveland by double figures 25 points. Boston’s supporting cast picked up the slack for its No. 1 option as Derrick White drained seven threes and Luke Kornet filled an interior defensive void, but once Game 2 rolled around, the depth wasn’t there. Tatum again shot poorly (7-for-17), the Cavaliers attacked from start to finish, and Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla was forced to pull the starters off the floor in the final five minutes of regulation while boos poured down at TD Garden.

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Cleveland’s scheme was simple at the start of the series: pressure Tatum with a multi-defender push, and force him to defer.

It opened the door for wide-open threes for Payton Pritchard and off-screen feeds to Jaylen Brown, but that isn’t sustainable for an entire title run. It’s difficult for Tatum to get going when he’s forced to become a facilitator rather than a superstar embracing the spotlight.

Tatum rebounded in Game 3 and scored a team-leading 33 points on an improved 11-for-25 shooting, matching Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell. In the second half, Tatum remained in attack mode by scoring 15 points and burying a turn-around jumper over Max Strus to bury the Cavaliers for good.

Despite Tatum leading Boston to a 2-1 series lead, Cleveland won’t be tapping out anytime soon in the best-of-seven battle for an Eastern Conference finals appearance against either the Knicks or Pacers.

“Just come out with an aggressiveness and an assertiveness,” Cavaliers guard Darius Garland said at practice, per CLNS Media. “We know they’re a pretty good second-half team so we’ll just have to come out being super aggressive, try to hit first at least, and try to withstand their runs.”

Garland added: “Just try to show Jayson and Jaylen as many bodies as we can, and if they get past us they’ll have to deal with another 7-footer down there. So that’s just been us. Our guards have been rotating around the 3-point line just to get a pretty good contest.”

Boston’s undefeated road record (3-0) this postseason will be put to the test, and if the Celtics pass, they’ll return home with a commanding 3-1 series lead and a chance to close out the Cavaliers in Game 5.