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Jayson Tatum struggled to assert his will into the Boston Celtics‘ loss against the Golden State Warriors on December 10.
Speaking to the media after the game, Tatum took full ownership of his poor performance, admitting that he needed to play better in games where teams are doing everything they can to limit his impact.
“27 games, 24 of them have been great, and you know, two or three off nights. I just gotta be better. I missed a lot of lay-ups, missed some open threes, things like that. So, you know, there’s nobody to blame, you know, but myself. I gotta be better to help the team win. So, you know, it’s not anything on the coach’s or anything like that,” Tatum said.
In 39 minutes of gameplay, Tatum scored 18 points, pulled down seven rebounds, dished out two assists, and blocked a shot, yet it was his difficult shooting night that put Boston in a bad spot, with the superstar wing shooting 28.6% from the field, 22.2% from deep, and 57.1% from the line.
With their loss to the Warriors, the Celtics are now 21-6 on the season and are still well positioned to remain atop of the Eastern Conference heading into the new calendar year.
Kendrick Perkins Claims Tatum Was ‘Scared’
Taking to Twitter following Boston’s loss to Golden State, Kendrick Perkins singled out Tatum, claiming that the 24-year-old All-Star looked scared throughout the game, and that the Warriors were on a different level.
“Once again the Warriors reminding my big dumb a** that it’s LEVELS to the s***. 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.
In fairness, the Warriors came into the contest with a solid game plan of putting Klay Thompson onto Tatum while having either Draymond Green or Kevon Looney behind him, allowing Golden State to limit Tatum’s ability to penetrate off the dribble or get to work in the high-post. As such, a significant part of Tatum’s struggles were generated by Golden State’s defense, and that will be something Boston will need to prepare for when they next face the Warriors.
Jordan Poole Credits Warriors Scouting Department
When speaking to the media during his post-game press conference, Warriors guard Jordan Poole shared his belief that Golden State’s scouting report is what made a significant difference throughout the game.
“The scouting report. A little bit familiar with the team. Guys were just locked in today, the entire 48, from jump ball,” Poole said.
Boston and Golden State know each other very well after playing a six-game series against each other in the NBA Finals, and it’s clear that familiarity helped the Warriors execute their gameplan at a high level. Unfortunately for both fanbases, we never got to see either team at full strength, as Robert Williams and Al Horford missed the game for Boston, with Andrew Wiggins sitting it out for the Warriors.
Hopefully, the next time these two juggernauts meet, we will witness both teams at full strength and see a more evenly-matched contest between two genuine championship-caliber rosters.
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