Jan 5, 2025 5 min read

When Tatum Needs to Be More Selfish

Against OKC, Jayson Tatum needed to run toward the problem a little more aggressively. (Image Credit: "Thor: Ragnarok")

Today's game in Oklahoma City was a winnable game for the Celtics. They built a lead as high as 13 points, and were in control for most of the first half. Even down to 2:34 left in the third quarter, they had an eight-point lead. But when Oklahoma City started its comeback in earnest, the Celtics' offense disappeared, and their defense started showing cracks. It is in these moments when Jayson Tatum needs to take over, and I didn't feel like he did that enough in this game.

Zooming out, the evidence is simple – Tatum only took 17 shots. That's more than three shots below his season average, despite him playing roughly two and a half minutes more than his season average. That math doesn't math. But it feels even worse in context. The specific context here is two-fold:

Oklahoma City's entire defensive strategy is hacking and flopping.
Tatum is the only player on the team (with the possible exception of Al Horford, who rarely dribbles) who has both the handle and the strength to combat this strategy.

You're probably asking, what about Jaylen Brown? Jaylen has the strength, no doubt, but that works against him sometimes. In this game, it absolutely did. With Tatum on the bench for the start of the fourth, the C's obviously wanted to go to Jaylen, and the Thunder knew it. There were several plays where Jaylen's handle led to turnovers or sub-optimal possessions:

11:08, C's up 4 - MISS Porzingis 26' 3PT Jump Shot
8:14, tie game - Brown Lost Ball Turnover (P2.T11) Wallace STEAL (2 STL)
2:05, down 9 - Brown Lost Ball Turnover (P3.T16) Gilgeous-Alexander STEAL (3 STL)

These three plays kind of bracketed OKC's comeback. The first was one of many chances the C's had to get the lead back to a safe, 6-7 point margin. On the second, OKC took the lead, which not only forced coach Joe Mazzulla to call time out, but also to bring Tatum back in two minutes earlier than normal. And the final turnover led to a wide-open Lu Dort three. He was wide open because Jaylen didn't hustle back on D, and with a 12-point lead and two minutes to go, this essentially ended the game. Zooming out, Jaylen also didn't score in the second half. He was 0-for-7.

Elsewhere, Derrick White only took two two-point shots tonight, and both came in the second quarter. That's not even close to good enough, and I'm honestly getting sick of watching White settle for jumpers when he should be driving. Jrue Holiday committed a series of defensive miscues early in the fourth, to the point where it seemed like the Thunder were starting to target him before he finally got a deflection and they backed away from that strategy. Neither Payton Pritchard nor Sam Hauser could hit a shot, and didn't see the court in the fourth.

Kristaps Porzingis, through three quarters, was great. But in the fourth, he let Dort rile him up into being overly physical. In trying to own his space, he got too aggressive and committed an incredibly stupid offensive foul in the lane, and then another one at the top of the key. Those were two possessions Boston couldn't afford to lose. He allowed himself to be flustered and lose control of his emotions. He should have known better. Even Al Horford fell victim to it, picking up a charge on a minor call where Dort flopped. Should the refs have known better, especially since they had gotten Dort for a flopping technical in the third? Absolutely. Should Horford also have known better? Absolutely.

With all of this swirling around, it was imperative that Tatum take over. And obviously, if you look at his stats – 26 points and 10 rebounds – it seems like he had his typically great game. But the Thunder also did a good job of suffocating his kickouts (which is why Pritchard and Hauser couldn't get good looks). So he needed to do more himself.

When he came back in in the fourth, he seemed to get the assignment. He immediately found an opportunity to get one on one in the midrange, and buried a stepback jumper over Jalen Williams (who he did dominate defensively, it should be said) to tie it. But then he didn't get a shot off the next two possessions. He had the ball in his hands when Porzingis committed his offensive foul, and then he had a fast break lay-up blocked (he should have dunked it), and then went another three possessions without getting a shot. When he finally took another shot out of the half-court offense, there was just 3:47 left in the game. In those four minutes, OKC had taken control, because the C's hadn't scored a single point since Tatum had tied it at 85.

That three pointer brought the C's to within six at 94-88. Tatum then got off a good running lay-up, but it didn't bounce in, and he didn't get the foul call. Then came Horford's foul and Brown's turnover, and that was that.

One of the things that Oklahoma City does really well is they clear out for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. There will be a lot of plays where SGA doesn't pass, and no one sets him a screen either. In the grand scheme of things, I think it leaves OKC vulnerable, because they go to it too often. But it's working well in the regular season because SGA is on a roll – he just goes and does his thing. The Celtics don't do this enough for Tatum. I think mostly that's JT trying to be democratic and keeping the other guys involved. It's the right strategy 99% of the time, and one of the many reasons the C's won the championship last season. But this season, with everyone digging in to beat the champs, sometimes Tatum has to remind people that there isn't a single person on the planet who can guard him straight up, and just take whomever is guarding him one-on-one without a screen and make things happen.

The Celtics didn't lose today's game solely because Tatum didn't take enough shots. There is plenty of blame to go around, and Oklahoma City is a formidable opponent. They're hard to come back on because once they get a lead, they unleash Dort to maul the other team and hope the refs swallow their whistles. Tonight, the refs swallowed their whistles – Oklahoma City was whistled for seven fouls in the first quarter, and then just 11 the rest of the game. In fact, from 3:45 left in the second quarter to the end of the game, they were only whistled for seven personal fouls, despite playing incredibly physical basketball. Advantage OKC. And in the end, this loss isn't that bad in the grand scheme of things. The C's gave themselves a cushion by winning in Minnesota and Houston, and the way Denver is playing, they should beat them as well on Tuesday (I watched a lot of the two Denver-San Antonio games this weekend, and Denver didn't deserve to win either). But when things are going sideways, sometimes Tatum needs to be more aggressive. Today was one of those days.