Pistons Head Coach Issues Statement on Celtics Jayson Tatum Following 38-Point Night

On February 15, the Boston Celtics defeated the Detroit Pistons on the second night of a back-to-back to ensure they enter the All-Star break sitting atop of the Eastern Conference.

Following the game, Pistons’ head coach Dwane Casey was asked about Jayson Tatum’s impact, specifically in the third quarter, where the superstar forward exploded for 24 points and 3 rebounds.

“He’s an All-Pro for a reason. We tried to double-team him, then he escapes that; we did not doing a good job of locking him in, not letting him reject the blitz, the double team. He’s All-Pro for a reason, and once he’s making those threes, it’s hard to get to (him) because he’s so long,” Casey said.

Tatum, who did not play in the Celtics’ February 14 matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks, ended the game as the contest’s top scorer and will be hoping to take that momentum with him to Utah, where he will participate in the All-Star game and the three-point contest.

Tatum is Already Practicing For Three-Point Contest

As Tatum spoke with the media following his impressive game against the Pistons, he was asked about his participation in the 2023 three-point contest, leading the St. Louis native to admit that he’s already been getting some shots up in preparation.

“They asked me if I wanted to do it, and I said yeah. I practiced this morning. We had the timer, had the racks set up. I was in the three-point contest when it was in Atlanta, in the Kobe year – made it to the final round, lost to Steph (Curry), so, I’ve done it once before,” Tatum said.

Tatum will face off against some stellar shooting competition, with Buddy Hield, Anfernee Simons, Lauri Markkanen, Tyler Herro, Tyrese Haliburton, Kevin Huerter, and Damian Lillard also in contention. Interestingly, Tatum ranks fifth out of the competitors in wide-open field goal percentage this season, so he will certainly have his work cut out for him.

Joe Mazzulla Heaps Praise on Blake Griffin

During his own post-game press conference, interim head coach Joe Mazzulla took a moment to share the impact Blake Griffin has had on the Celtics locker room since joining the team during the off-season.

“I’ve said it a couple of times, and I even told Mike Muscala when he first got here. ‘Cherish this locker room because it’s one of the strongest and maybe the most special one you’ll be in.’ I think Blake’s a huge cornerstone of that, just because of the career he’s had and where he’s at now, and the humility he brings to just coming in every single day.

Whether it’s playing with the younger guys or whether he’s starting for us. His attitude and his focus on what’s most important doesn’t change. He has the utmost respect of everyone in the locker room. You know him, and Al (Horford), and those guys are a cornerstone of that,” Mazzulla said.

Griffin has participated in 26 games for the Celtics this season, contributing 4.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per contest on 51.1% shooting from the field, 40.4% shooting from deep, and 62.5% shooting from the free-throw line.