How Jayson Tatum Makes Things ‘Easier’ For Celtics Teammates

Jayson Tatum didn’t have one of his prototypical performances for the Celtics in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.

The Celtics star shot 37.5% from the field (6-of-16) for just 16 points in 42 minutes. Despite having an off shooting night, his teammates know the value Tatum brings every time he is on the court.

“He draws so much attention. Even if he’s not shooting the ball well, he can draw a lot of attention,” Celtics guard Payton Pritchard told reporters after the team’s practice on Saturday, per league-provided transcripts. “Defenses are collapsing on him. Creates easy shots for teammates even when he doesn’t have the ball. He’s very impactful, always.”

Tatum had five assists and 11 rebounds in Boston’s 107-89 blowout win over the Mavericks, which helped create opportunities for his teammates.

“I think that it goes unnoticed a lot of times, and what goes unnoticed is he doesn’t get credit a lot of times, and he’s the first one to get all the blame if he doesn’t have a monster game,” Kristaps Porzingis told reporters, per league-provided transcripts. “It’s a little bit unfair to him. But hats off to him for taking it on the chin and conducting himself as a champion and being like, ‘I’ll do whatever it takes for this team to win.'”

Porzingis added: “Of course, he’s always the focal point for the other team and (Jaylen Brown) and then maybe, I don’t know, I’m third, fourth, fifth, sixth on the list. That takes a lot of pressure off me. I can have more open looks, a lot more good situations for me. That’s a credit to JB and JT, but especially JT.”

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Even with the mounds of criticism Tatum has taken from the various analysts, he silences them with his play on the court.

“I know he’s one of the best players,” Pritchard said. “But like the way his personality is, he’s just laid back. He’s not showboating or acting like he’s the best. He’s confident, but … I think he’s confident knowing who he is, so he doesn’t feel the need to do that.”

Tatum averaged 30.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game in the Eastern Conference finals. He’s bound to put up better numbers as the NBA Finals go deeper.