Jayson Tatum on Bam Adebayo’s block: ‘They made a great play at the rim’
Jayson Tatum was the guy the Celtics went to for the clutch shot attempts in their Game 1 loss to the Heat.
Tatum’s first shot came at the end of regulation. With the game tied at 106 and the clock winding down, Tatum received the ball and got a screen from Kemba Walker to get the smaller Derrick Jones on him as opposed to Jimmy Butler.
Instead of attacking the basket with the height advantage, Tatum decided to pull up from 3-point range for the win and hit the front iron, sending the game to overtime.
After Butler made an and-one layup on Tatum to give the Heat a 116-114 lead with 12 seconds left, Tatum’s number was called on again.
Tatum received the inbounds pass and got Butler switched onto him. He drove past Butler and it looked like nothing was stopping him from tying the game, until Bam Adebayo stepped up to make the arguable play of the playoffs. The 6-foot-9 Adebayo slid across the paint to reject Tatum’s dunk at the rim, preventing the tie with just 2.5 seconds remaining.
“I liked both shots that I got,” Tatum told reporters after the game. “I just missed one and they made a great play at the rim on the second one.”
Adebayo was fouled after Tatum’s dunk attempt and with the Celtics in the penalty, he went to the free throw line. He went 1 for 2 from the stripe, giving the Celtics a “Hail Mary” attempt to tie the game and Tatum a third try to be a hero.
Tatum caught the pass from Marcus Smart, who threw the pass from under the Celtics’ basket to him. Tatum slipped while catching the ball but was able to gather himself and get a 3-point shot up to try and tie it. However, Tatum didn’t have the “clutch gene” Tuesday and the shot rimmed out. Game over.
Like Tatum, Smart tipped his cap to the Heat for the way they played in the clutch moments.
“When it counted, they made the great plays down the stretch,” Smart said. “It was a great play by Bam. A damn good play by Bam.”
In the final two minutes of regulation and overtime combined, the Celtics shot 3 for 10 from the field. Celtics coach Brad Stevens also acknowledged the great play from the Heat’s defense, saying “obviously their switching has something to do with it” but that the Celtics have to “handle it better.”
“Not only was there probably too much hounding of the ball, but also not as much space with the way they were guarding,” Stevens said. “So, we need to do a better job with that. We’ll find different ways we can attack better at the end of the game.”
The Cetlics will try to play better in crunch time — or avoid having to play in crunch time — and even the series up in Game 2 on Thursday.
Get Boston.com's browser alerts:
Enable breaking news notifications straight to your internet browser.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com