Why Joe Mazzulla, Kristaps Porzingis believe Jayson Tatum played ‘beautiful’ basketball in Celtics’ win over Knicks
Tatum only scored 19 points in the win, but Mazzulla pointed out other things he did well Saturday.
Jayson Tatum likely didn’t help his MVP case Saturday night, he impressed his head coach and teammates in a different way during the Celtics’ 116-102 win over the Knicks.
The Celtics star only scored 19 points, shooting 7 of 15 from the field as he added six rebounds, six assists, two steals, and a block in the win. Tatum’s stats were also relatively unimpressive at halftime, shooting the ball just five times as the Celtics held a 62-58 lead at the break.
Tatum started to put his imprint on the game in the second half, scoring 12 points and dishing out four assists. He was also part of the effort to slow down Knicks star Jalen Brunson, who shot just 5 of 12 from the field and 1 of 4 from deep in the final two frames.
Joe Mazzulla believed that Tatum’s ability to dictate the offense and his strong effort on the defensive end were key to the Celtics’ win, even if they might not be reflected in the box score.
“I thought today was a beautiful display of basketball from Jayson, and I think it will go underlooked and will not go into the most valuable category,” Mazzulla told reporters. “But his ability to control the game with his pick-and-roll pace, his pick-and-roll passing, his defense. He put himself on Brunson. And the poise, welcoming the two-on-ones, and creating for others was great.
“My hat’s off to him for knowing that that’s a way for us to win.”
Tatum helped the Celtics take full control of the game late in the third quarter. After the Knicks cut the Celtics’ lead to seven with just over six minutes left, Boston went on a 19-6 run four-plus minutes to take a 97-77 lead. Tatum punctuated the run with a 3-pointer after he scored a bucket earlier in the stretch as he also assisted Kristaps Porzingis on two 3-pointers.
Mazzulla kept Tatum in the game to start the fourth quarter as a result of the stretch, which is usually the time he spends on the bench in the second half to rest for crunch time. But the Celtics coach wanted Tatum to remain in the game because of the way he was in control of the game.
“It was mostly the way that they were guarding him and the way that he was playing,” Mazzulla explained on why Tatum remained in the game to start the fourth quarter. “I wanted to stay in that space for as long as possible, if they were going to keep continuing to create two-on-ones quickly. And he put himself on Brunson. He had great defensive awareness and a mindset. And so I felt like that was kind of what the game needed was to stay in that space. And I thought he did a great job of navigating that.”
The Knicks briefly cut the game to single digits in the fourth quarter, but never really threatened the Celtics. But as New York didn’t call off its starters until the final minute, Tatum played all but one minute in the second of Saturday’s win. Playing those extra minutes in the fourth quarter could’ve allowed Tatum to possibly boost his stats a bit, but he didn’t take a shot in his final four minutes of action on Saturday.
Tatum has put up some quality per-game stats this season, leading the team in points (26.9) and rebounds (8.5). He’s also tied for the team lead in assists (4.8). But those numbers are notably behind some of the MVP frontrunners, particularly in points and assists per game.
Porzingis noted how multiple players on the team have sacrificed this season, pointing to Jrue Holiday as someone who’s sacrificed a lot. But Porzingis also believes Tatum’s restraint on forcing shots has been valuable, implying that it’s been a tone-setter for the rest of the team.
“JT deserves a lot of credit,” Porzingis said. “He could say, ‘F it, I wanna score 30 every night. I wanna get the MVP.’ But he’s not doing that. I think people are overlooking that. You have to give him credit, because when he does that, it makes everybody else do that. And then, we’re winning games because everybody’s feeling good, everybody’s scoring. We’re all dangerous.
“So, I think he deserves a lot more credit than he’s getting and everybody has made a sacrifice. I think people from the outside kind of see that. But as a players, we know what we’re doing and we know what the goal is. So, we’re putting out stuff to the side for one bigger goal.”
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