‘Hang it in the [expletive] Louvre’: What Celtics players said of Jayson Tatum’s behind-the-back pass in Game 3 win vs. Pacers
"I trusted that he was going to be there, he trusted that I was going to make the right read."
Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 36 points in the Celtics’ comeback 114-111 comeback win over the Pacers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, but his biggest play of the game was one of his eight assists.
As the Celtics trailed by five with under 1:20 remaining, Tatum got a pass from Derrick White on the wing after receiving a screen from Al Horford. The screen allowed Tatum to get to the rim with little resistance, but Aaron Nesmith was on his tail. Myles Turner, who was covering Horford, decided to crash the rim when Tatum drove to the bucket.
Instead of taking a contested layup at the rim, Tatum recognized that Horford was wide open in the corner as a result of Turner’s blitz. But his back was faced toward Horford, seemingly making it a difficult pass.
It ended up being no problem for Tatum. The star wing whipped the ball behind his back, getting it to the wide-open Horford on one bounce. Horford drained the 3-pointer, bringing the Celtics within two before they took the lead for good on the next possession.
Tatum’s behind-the-back pass to Horford was the assist of his the Celtics were buzzing about the most.
“In the fourth quarter, we made some big-time plays,” Brown told reporters on how the Celtics came back from an 18-point deficit. “Jayson Tatum made some big-time plays. That pass behind the back to the corner [to] Al, hang it in the [expletive] Louvre. It was crazy. We just had a great, grit win tonight.”
Horford was also in amazement over Tatum’s behind-the-back pass.
“It’s pretty special,” Horford told reporters. “He drove to the basket, he felt like he had a lane, and I don’t know how he got it there. He had to improvise. He just continued to time after time make the right play. That was an unbelievable play.
“At that point, for me, it was just taking my time and knock it down.”
As for Tatum’s perspective of the play, he sensed that Horford would be open after the Pacers’ decision to double-team him off the screen. He also had confidence in the veteran big to drain the shot.
“A DHO (dribble hand-off), I attacked downhill, I had [Nesmith] with me, and Myles Turner. I knew Myles was guarding Al. And, you know, reads,” Tatum said as he described the play. “We always talk about spacing, making sure we’re in the right spots. I trusted that he was going to be there, he trusted that I was going to make the right read. That was a hell of a shot that he made.”
While the play wasn’t a traditional pick-and-roll, Tatum and Horford have made similar types of plays in recent years, with Horford setting a screen for Tatum before popping out for 3.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla thought the play was one of many executed well down the stretch.
“There are a lot of plays that should get a lot of attention from multiple guys,” Mazzulla said when asked about Tatum’s pass and pick-and-roll execution. “Our offensive execution in general was good and our pick-and-roll execution was good. I thought guys made the right play at certain times; where to drive it, where to pass it, one more [pass]. I thought when we had some empty possessions, we had a couple shot-clock violations, I thought we were playing with the right intentions, looking to make the right play. That’s the most important thing.”
Now, the Celtics are one win away from making it back to the NBA Finals for a second time in three seasons. Even though they’re up 3-0 in the series, it hasn’t been easy. They needed multiple bounces and Brown to hit a game-tying shot in the final seconds of regulation to win Game 1. In Game 3, the Pacers shot miraculously from 2-point range to lead as many as 18 points before the Celtics came back.
That’s why Tatum let out a roar when Jrue Holiday converted his final assist: an and-one that gave the Celtics the lead with 38 seconds left.
“That [expletive] was intense,” Tatum said. “Game 3s, I always enjoy the most. Game 3 of the series, going into the opponents home building, it’s their first home game. The crowd was electric. They haven’t lost a home game since like, March 18. So, we knew it was going to be tough, we knew it was going to be a tough battle.
“It took everything for us to win this game. Being down 18, we needed every stop, every deflection, every rebound, every shot that we play, we needed every ounce of that.”
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