Getty Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics.
It’s been a great season for the Boston Celtics thus far, but on Saturday night, the team struggled to keep up with the Golden State Warriors. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson led the way, earning the Warriors a 123-107 victory.
The loss marked just the third time all year that Boston lost in regulation, and a big part of their defeat was a poor performance from Jayson Tatum. After the game, former Celtic and NBC Sports Boston analyst Kendrick Perkins called him out for playing “scared as hell.”
“Once again the Warriors reminding my big dumb ass that it’s LEVELS to the shit. I mean they are KICKING the Celtics a** if great fashion. Tatum looked scared as hell tonight! Y’all stay out my mentions and Carry the hell on…,” Perkins tweeted.
It was a rough night for Tatum, who just couldn’t seem to get any shots to fall. In 39:45 of action, the superstar put up 18 points, seven rebounds, and two assists on 6-of-21 shooting from the field and 2-of-9 shooting from three-point range.
The showing was completely uncharacteristic of Tatum, who has been playing like the league’s MVP this year. He’s appeared in 26 of the Celtics’ 27 games and is playing 36.7 minutes per contest. Tatum is averaging 30.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 4.0 assists on 47.2% shooting from the field and 36.0% shooting from distance.
Warriors Star Praises Celtics
Golden State and Boston squared off in the NBA Finals last year, and while Boston took home wins in two of the first three games, the Warriors got the last laugh. And while the Warriors got the best of Boston again on Saturday night, the Celtics seem to be in a much better position this season.
Ahead of the contest, Draymond Green spoke about just how great the Celtics have been.
“They look incredible…They’re playing well, they’re playing together…They’re responding how you expect a young team to respond to the Finals loss,” Green said. “It just says a lot about their character, says a lot about the guys’ will to win and will to be great. You either get motivated by losing an NBA championship or playoff series… or you go down the tube. They’re obviously motivated by it, and they’re playing well.”
Green and the Celtics got into it during the Finals last year, but he’s always shown them a bunch of respect off the court. Now, with the Celtics sitting in first place in the Eastern Conference, Green seems as impressed as ever.
Celtics Legend Praises Star
And while Tatum put up an ugly performance against the Warriors, his co-star, Jaylen Brown, delivered. Brown dropped 31 points and nine rebounds and has been playing extremely well this year. Paul Pierce even said that he should be in the MVP conversation alongside Tatum.
“We legitimately talk about that Jayson Tatum in the MVP conversation, but you got to start putting Jaylen Brown in the MVP conversation too. I mean, yeah, we already know they’re the top duo in the league, but we need to start talking more about Jaylen Brown,” Pierce said.