It’s rare when one play can define a series, but that was the case for Jayson Tatum late in Thursday’s Game 6 against the Warriors.
After being invisible for most of the second half, the Celtics needed Tatum to take over the final minutes if they were going to close their double-digit deficit. Tatum got that chance with 3:10 remaining, when he caught the ball in the corner and went up against Andrew Wiggins. The momentum was building for a big play.
Then Tatum traveled. Womp-womp.
Will Tatum ever be able to lead the Celtics?
Tatum finished Game 6 with 13 points on 6-of-18 shooting with just three rebounds, but even those paltry numbers don’t fully illustrate his ineffectiveness. All but two of Tatum’s points came in the first half. Wiggins dominated him in the fourth, easily rejecting one of his floaters on another late Boston possession.
While Tatum averaged 21.5 points per game in the series, he was never the best player on the court. That honor belonged to Steph Curry, who seemed much fresher at 34 than Tatum did at 24.
Tatum’s performance was mystifying, considering he just played the best season of his incredible young career and was a force earlier in the playoffs. His 46-point outlay against the Bucks only happened one month ago.
So what gives? In the end, it looked like Tatum was hurt and overworked.
The line of demarcation is Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Tatum went crashing to the floor after getting tangled up with Miami guard Victor Oladipo and favored his right shoulder before heading to the locker room. It took less than two minutes of game time for Tatum to return, prompting Jeff Van Gundy and others to question the validity of his injury. It seemed like a Paul Pierce redux, minus the wheel chair.
But then Tatum started playing like someone who was injured. He favored his right shoulder throughout the rest of the conference finals and never played up to his full speed in the NBA Finals. Cheap shot artist Draymond Green tugged at Tatum’s shoulder during Game 3, which is a telltale sign he wasn’t feeling right.
On Thursday, Tatum said he doesn’t expect to undergo surgery on his shoulder, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t hurt.
Superstars blaming injuries for poor play is the definition of a loser’s lament.
This will be the first normal offseason of rest for Tatum in three years, since he played in the Olympics last summer. He’s logged 7,103 minutes since the NBA’s Covid restart, more than any other player in the league.
This season alone, Tatum played 3,714 minutes, which was 739 more than Curry played for Golden State. That’s the equivalent of roughly 21 additional games, as Red Sox Stats points out.
Historically, NBA greats don’t usually break through and win a championship until their late 20s. LeBron James won his first title at 27, Michael Jordan won his first at 28.
Tatum was two wins away from being well ahead of schedule. Too bad he was gassed.