Pick what you want out of the Celtics' 101-98 overtime win over the Pacers Monday night at TD Garden.
Rob Williams filled up the box score, scoring 14 points while grabbing 12 rebounds to go along with an impressive defensive effort (3 blocks). The C's were able to fend off another fourth-quarter collapse thanks to last-minute resiliency. And, above all else, Ime Udoka's team simply won a game.
Still, the reality is that the effort against a 15-26 Indiana team likely won't go down as a ticket stub-saving event for those in attendance.
So, how should we truly remember this one? Perhaps as the perfect example of how this franchise will sink or swim depending on how they figure out this Jayson Tatum conundrum.
For most of the game, onlookers were undoubtedly grumbling about the report from The Athletic earlier in the day stating that Brad Stevens intention was to build around Tatum and Jaylen Brown, fending off temptation to truly blow the whole thing up.
Tatum - the 23-year-old who is trying to navigate increasing criticism while teaming with Brown as the Celtics' be-all, end-all - wasn't good for much of this one. He had more turnovers (8) than shots made (7), missing all seven of his three-point attempts while managing just one assist.
Not good.
But when it came time to fish or cut bait at crunch time, the Celtics needed to turn to a no-holds-barred No. 1 option. That would be Tatum. And that's exactly who allowed the C's to head into overtime thanks to a corner jumper with 1.8 seconds remaining.
The fact is the matter is that in order to win in the NBA you need players like Tatum. The other fact of the matter is that there are simply not a lot of players like Tatum to be had.
For a point of reference, the forward's existence isn't all that unlike what Paul Pierce went through when coming up the ranks. Pierce headed into his fifth NBA season (where Tatum currently sits) coming off a campaign in which he scored more points than any player in the league, entrenching himself as a bonafide superstar.
But perception of Pierce was far from what it would ultimately land at, with the C's star living life as the guy desperate for recognition among the NBA elite on a team that had Antoine Walker and nobody else averaging as many as 10 points per game.
Sound familiar?
Trying to figure out how to capitalize on Pierce's presence became an awkward proposition for the Celtics, who failed to win a postseason series in any of the next four seasons. Walker was ultimately shipped out, with guys like Ricky Davis being brought in to add some sort of complement to the Celtics' go-to guy.
By the time Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen came to the rescue, Pierce was in his ninth season, having turned 30 years old. The former Kansas star finally found his championship, but in a fashion he probably never envisioned six years before.
The Pierce that sat on the mountaintop during that 2007-08 season bore little resemblance to the Year 5 version. It was what it was. Just like, with Tatum, it is is what it is.
As was the case back in 2002, there are no easy answers. That was put on display once again Monday night.
