The Celtics, and Jayson Tatum in particular, have some things to clean up before the playoffs
The Celtics can win the NBA title, but they have to clean it up if they intend to avoid postseason heartbreak, Chad Finn says.
The assignment is simple for the Celtics over the 20 remaining games in this regular season.
Clean it up.
That’s what they must do as a whole. That’s what their best player, Jayson Tatum, must do as an individual.
It’s simple. Obvious. And absolutely crucial. Despite two maddening losses in a row — a blown 22-point fourth-quarter lead Tuesday to the Cavaliers, then Thursday’s failed mettle test against the defending champion Nuggets — the Celtics can win the NBA title.
But they have to clean it up. They have to, if they intend to avoid postseason heartbreak. It’s imperative that they eliminate unforced errors and play with poise, pace, and discipline no matter the circumstances or the whims of the officials. It’s the final phase of their growth in their pursuit of Banner 18, and the most difficult.
Against other elite teams — meaning the three or four others with legitimate championship aspirations — the Celtics have to recognize and emphasize the importance of taking care of the supposed small things that somehow always end up looking like big things in the aftermath of a close loss.
Don’t give away a point here or there — in a game in which every single point matters — with a technical foul. Communicate and avoid breakdowns on defense. Share and protect the basketball. Value every possession. Knock down your free throws.
They certainly did not take care of those things in the 115-109 loss to the Nuggets and the peerless Nikola Jokic in a game that felt like the trailer for the NBA Finals, so we’re left to stare at the box score and lament one frustrating detail after another.
If only the Celtics hadn’t committed 12 turnovers to the Nuggets’ seven. If only the Nuggets — who have a champion’s uncanny knack for seizing every opportunity and exploiting every mistake — hadn’t made a habit out of winning the end of quarters, including buzzer-beaters by Jokic and Jamal Murray. If only Jaylen Brown, who was otherwise magnificent with a forceful 41 points in 41 minutes, hadn’t missed 7 of 14 free throw attempts while the Nuggets went 21 of 22 as a team.
And then there’s a certain big thing that needs to be addressed.
If only Jayson Tatum hadn’t played like that.
Now, I think I’ve made it clear that I believe Tatum in general gets too much grief. I’ll make it clearer just in case the message was deleted.
Tatum works extremely hard, has improved one aspect of his game or another every year he’s been in the league, and he’s a conscientious teammate and an exceptional offensive player who is attentive to the other aspects of the game. He tries to do everything right, even if his idea of what was right was occasionally misguided early in his career. He’s what you want a young superstar to be.
Yet I’m forever fending off Celtics fans who like to point out he’s not Larry Bird (most of you wouldn’t admit it if he were), or lacks the toughness of Jimmy Butler (who never advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs until he was 30 and on his fourth team), or, most annoyingly, lacks a “Mamba Mentality” (Tatum actually mimicked Kobe Bryant’s iso-ball habits too much early in his career).
Tatum was never really allowed to grow into his greatness by a portion of the fan base, and yet he has. He’s been willing to sacrifice his own offense on this year’s loaded roster. He’s been a superb rebounder, a relentless defender, and he comes to play every night.
Which is why his lethargic performance Thursday was so perplexing. Offensively, he seemed to struggle with the difference between being selfless and passive while Brown was lighting it up. He finished with just 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
But it’s the rest of his game — all of it, every aspect — that was the real problem. He had just four rebounds, was a guilty bystander twice on late Aaron Gordon dunks, and his passing … well, you may have heard a time or two that basketball is all about vision. I have no idea what Tatum was seeing or thinking on some of those meandering passes. The worst was a perimeter bounce-pass to Kristaps Porzingis that pesky Kentavious Caldwell-Pope picked off like vintage Ty Law, but there was also a botched two-on-one with Jrue Holiday, and a weird lob-ish thing to Brown in the final minute.
It’s fair to wonder whether Tatum let his frustrations from the final sequence in the Cavaliers game — when he dribbled an absurd 19 times in the final 19.1 seconds before missing a bad fadeaway in the 1-point loss — carry over to the Denver matchup.
He absorbed significant criticism for that, and he should have. The I’ve-got-this, slow-walk iso-ball at the end of games needs to end. He has four excellent teammates on the court. Trust them. Involve them in the final minute just as they’re involved in the other 47 minutes.
Personally, I feel like the ball should begin in Derrick White’s hands during every crucial possession. He’s not their best player, but is easily their best and fastest decision-maker.
Yet as disconnected as Tatum seemed to be, and as often as the Nuggets made them pay for their mistakes, the Celtics still had a chance. But Tatum’s wide-open corner three with 41 seconds left, which would have given the Celtics the lead, ricocheted off the rim.
It was a fitting end, and if we’re being honest, a necessary one. After exorcising the Warriors — the not-ready-for-prime-time Celtics conquerors in the Finals two years ago — with a 52-point throttling to punctuate an 11-game winning streak, it would be understandable if the players’ eardrums were thumping with the talk that they are the team to beat.
They are not. Not now, not yet. They got complacent against the Cavs and let that one slip. We can mark that down as an outlier.
But what happened Thursday was no outlier. It was a lesson, and one the Celtics had better learn. The Nuggets are the champions not just because of their exceptional talent and teamwork, but their attention to detail.
If the Celtics clean up the small things, their biggest dreams can be realized. Here’s hoping Tatum and his teammates were paying close enough attention.
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