How Jayson Tatum bounced back from his worst 3-point shooting night of the season
Tatum went 0-10 from 3-point range against Washington on Friday. He bounced back on Sunday against the T-Wolves.
Even MVP candidates have dreadful shooting nights at points during the season.
Friday night’s contest against the Wizards simply was not Jayson Tatum’s night. He went 0-for-10 from 3-point range and 6-for-19 from the field.
The Celtics collectively had a slow start and let the Wizards hang around for too long, but ultimately were able to overcome the off night from Tatum. They beat Washington by 12.
Tatum bounced back against the Timberwolves at TD Garden on Sunday, hitting five of his 12 3-point attempts.
Asked if he changed his routine at all to address the struggles, Tatum shook his head and said no.
“Sometimes that (expletive) just doesn’t go in,” Tatum said. “I didn’t do anything extra. We had an off day yesterday. I was chilling with Deuce all day. Just came in excited to play again. I know I wasn’t going go 0-for-10 tonight, so it all balances out.”
Tatum ended up shooting 8-for-21 from the field, which is still below his season average of 44 percent this season.
But, he had more success with his outside game, something he has worked on extensively since his 3-point shooting struggles during the Celtics’ postseason run to the championship last summer.
Tatum’s field-goal percentage, 3-point percentage, and free-throw percentage are all slightly down from his career averages so far this season, but that’s a pretty small sample size given that the season is less than a quarter of the way over.
Tatum, now in his eighth season, says experience has given him the ability to put shooting slumps in their proper perspective.
“I think earlier in my career, it would have bothered me a lot more,” Tatum said. “You just understand there is so much more basketball to be played. So many games. In those moments it feels like you’re the only person missing shots, but every great player, great shooter goes through slumps or had nights when they couldn’t get shots.
“They always bounce back or respond,” he added. “I think having moments like that throughout my career with tougher shooting nights has become easier to deal with or live with as I have gotten older.”
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