Jayson Tatum scores 35 as Celtics surge past Magic and into second round: Takeaways
If the wrist that Tatum injured in Game 1 bothered him at all in any of the games he played, he never showed it.
Jayson Tatum and the Celtics put together a dominant second half on Tuesday, pulling away from the Magic in Game 5 for a 120-89 victory that propelled them into the second round.
Here are the takeaways.
Jayson Tatum was masterful. Again.
If the wrist that Tatum injured in Game 1 bothered him at all in any of the games he played, he never showed it.
Tuesday’s Game 5 may have been Tatum’s best performance of the series – a 35-point masterpiece on 10-for-16 shooting, including 4-for-5 from three and 11-for-11 from the free-throw line. He dished out 10 assists and finished two rebounds short of a triple-double, snaring eight.
In the first half, when the Celtics were struggling to find offense from 3-point range, Tatum scored 16 points – getting to the rim repeatedly.
In the second half, Tatum was one of several players who found their stroke from behind the arc, and he continued to work his way to the free-throw line where he has now made 37 straight over the last three games.
“Time and time again when it’s time to finish off a series and get a dub, he goes to another level,” Al Horford said. “Tonight it was impressive to see him. We get to a certain point and he knows what to do and kind of takes over. So that was pretty special to see him making play after play.”
Tatum pretty clearly was not a fan of the Magic – his wrist-grabbing 3-point celebration was uncharacteristically pointed, he shoulder-bumped Kentavious Caldwell-Pope earlier in the series, and he appeared to relish the moment as he and the Celtics put the finishing touches on Orlando in the second half.
If the Magic woke up this version of Tatum for the rest of the postseason, the rest of the NBA might be as angry with them as he seems to be.
“It was probably exactly what we needed,” Tatum said. “A good test (for the) first round. A couple guys really banged up and dealing with some things, but showing that mental toughness of getting up and getting ready for each game and doing whatever it takes, whatever the game calls for and figuring out a way to win. That’s all that matters this time of the year.
“As a group, we’ve been through it all and we showed it and proved it this series. Looking forward to the next one.”
Tatum is relaxed this time around.
If it looked like Tatum played free during the regular season after winning his first title, that’s because he felt more free.
“This season was the most relaxed and carefree that I’ve been in my career, understanding that we won last year and we accomplished the ultimate goal and you kind of got that monkey off your back,” he said. “Obviously the goal is still the same this year to win and compete for a championship, but I’ve just enjoyed this season of playing carefree basketball and not having that hang over my head. It’s been fun to do and just a sense of freedom.
“I’ve just carried the season with that.”
Paolo Banchero’s second-half disaster changed the game
Banchero entered the second half with two fouls, which is worth watching but not particularly concerning for the Magic. Just 50 seconds into the half, he picked up his third, which was both concerning and worth watching for Magic coach Jamahl Mosley, but perhaps not worth taking him out.
Jaylen Brown, however, made the very wise decision to attack Banchero, who picked up his fourth trying to defend the Celtics star. Mosley made the understandable (but perhaps questionable) decision to let his 22-year-old forward keep playing, and the Celtics predictably went right at him again – once again with Brown, and once again with the precise results they wanted. Banchero committed his fifth foul and stormed to the bench in a fury. Mosley then made the verifiably questionable decision to challenge the call, lost the challenge, and was forced to coach the rest of the game without a challenge and with one of his precious few offensive weapons in mortal foul trouble.
“He’s the life source for the team,” Brown said. “He’s a phenomenal young player. He can do it all. He’s so talented and skilled and he’s been leading them throughout the year. He had a little bit of an injury to start the year, but he was on pace to having a really good season. […]
“But once we saw him get in foul trouble and hang his head, we were ready to go. So we just took advantage of that from there.”
The lack of challenge, as it turned out, didn’t really matter.
The fouls, however, changed the course of the game entirely. Brown got things going, scoring six straight Celtics points that got a dominant 30-9 run going to slam the door on the Magic. Banchero re-entered the game to start the fourth quarter, but the Celtics – without letting the door crack open again – somehow found a way to continue slamming it on a Magic team that let go of the rope and seemed so disheartened for having done so that they never came close to grabbing it again.
The Celtics made 13 triples in the second half and got their starters entirely off the floor with just under four minutes remaining.
The Celtics played a putrid first half.
The Celtics finished the first half in bizarre fashion – zero 3-pointers (0-for-6), nine turnovers … and down just two.
Tatum, of course, was the reason they only trailed by two. After the Magic went on a 7-0 run late in the second quarter, Tatum scored four straight on a beautifully executed 2-for-1 as part of his 16-point first half.
But the Magic made it abundantly clear that if the Celtics wanted to beat them, the plan was to make them do it without 3-pointers. Tatum, Brown, Sam Hauser and Al Horford all went the first 24 minutes without an attempt. Kristaps Porzingis hoisted two and missed both of them (and sat much of the first half with foul trouble). Derrick White and Payton Pritchard went 0-for-2 as well.
“You guys saw it. We want to shoot 60 3s when we’re out there, run and gun, play fast, and we couldn’t do that,” Horford said. “Sometimes you have to get it done in different ways.”
Tatum finally ended the drought at the 10:20 mark, swishing a straight-away triple with a hand in his face. The Celtics made five 3-pointers in the period and didn’t turn it over at all during their dominant 12-minute stretch en route to their 21-point lead.
Jaylen Brown was excellent too.
Brown’s performance will get a little buried by Tatum’s brilliance – and by Banchero’s brutal stretch – but he finished with 23 points on 9-for-18 shooting and was the only other Celtics player who scored more than 10.
Best of all for the Celtics: Brown is moving really well on his balky knee. Most notably on Tuesday, he hit Cory Joseph with this nasty in-and-out dribble before throwing down a two-handed slam.
Brown was asked whether his knee was bothering him postgame.
“A little bit of everything, but for sure,” he said. “Continuing to just trust the medical staff and everything. Just taking it one day at a time. But I felt a lot better in the second half, for sure.”
All season, the Celtics played as a team, trusting that whoever stepped up – star or role player – would do enough to help them win, and the result was a second consecutive 60-win season.
Through five playoff games, however, the stars have carried the load expertly.
The Celtics have some time off.
How big was it that the Celtics took care of business? Not only are they done facing a hyper-physical Magic team that could probably be fairly described as “reckless,” they also get multiple extra days off after the Pistons extended their first-round series against the Knicks with a narrow victory on Tuesday.
The Knicks and Pistons tip off at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday in Detroit. If the Knicks win, the earliest a series could start against the Celtics would be the weekend. If the Pistons extend the series further, the Celtics will likely have an entire week to rest their bruised limbs.
“We don’t take it for granted,” Brown said. “I’ve been able to play a lot of basketball in the playoffs. Each win, each time we advance, you don’t take it for granted.
“So I’m grateful to be able to move forward to play in the second round. We did a great job from coaching staff, organization, everybody for us to advance. Looking forward to what’s next.”
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