Celtics’ Jayson Tatum Details Double-Edged Sword Of ‘Superteam’ Expectation

BOSTON — When a team has as much talent and potential as the Boston Celtics do, certain narratives come around.

When the Celtics blow out a team by 25 points, it becomes routine and almost expected rather than celebrated. When Boston occasionally loses a game, overreactions can come from every angle.

That’s the reality that Jayson Tatum and the Celtics live this season.

The Celtics made efficient use of an offseason haul with the additions of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. Boston won 64 games and dominated throughout the regular season to roll to the playoffs with an NBA title at the forefront of the team’s motivations.

So when slip-ups like Thursday night’s Game 2 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers happen, perspective becomes a key ingredient in assessing the state of the Celtics.

“We get it,” Tatum said at TD Garden. “The world thinks we’re never supposed to lose. We’re supposed to win every game by 25. It’s not gonna be like that all the time. We don’t expect it to be easy. This is a good team we’re playing. It’s the second round of the playoffs. It’s going to be fun the rest of the series, especially come Saturday.”

Tatum continued: “We’ve bounced back plenty of times. We lost what, (18) games this year? I would like to think we respond pretty well the few times that we did lose.”

Boston has all the championship aspirations in the world and may feel such pressure as the postseason rolls on. For everything that comes with being the favorites to win a title, Tatum further dissected the effects of Boston’s “superteam” label.

“That’s the narrative you might see on TV,” Tatum offered. “The idea that we have a superteam. It’s two-fold, right? We didn’t have the Coach of the Year. We didn’t have the MVP. We only had two All-Stars. They say we’re a superteam, but we didn’t get rewarded like we are. We know we’ve got a good team. We’re not perfect. We play the right way more often than not. We know we gotta be better.”

Tatum remains the face of the Celtics and the star who is supposed to drive the supremely talented team to the promised land. The Celtics look to get back on that track and weather both ends of their lofty expectations.