Last week, I wrote that Jayson Tatum may end up being Carmelo Anthony. That wasn’t meant to be a slight. Anthony is an all-time great scorer who never won anything and was never good enough to elevate the play of those around him.
Since then, Tatum has scored nine (left after being poked in the eye), 50 and 40 points. Those last two games each saw a half dozen assists and rebounds as well.
LeBron James' playoff career high is 51 points. Kobe Bryant’s is 50. Would anyone be surprised if Tatum goes for 60? Or maybe 64 to break the playoff scoring record for a single game set by Michael Jordan in 1986?
When Tatum has it going, it’s got to be frustrating as hell for opponents. You know he’s just dancing on the arc to get to his sidestep move for a three. There’s nothing a defense can do to stop it.
The Celtics season is on the line Tuesday night. It’s Game 4 of the Eastern Conference first round matchup in Brooklyn and Boston is a longshot to win the game let alone the series. The Nets are 12.5-point favorites.
Here are some stats from this series, both good and bad:
Marcus Smart is sixth in the playoffs in three-point attempts per game (8.3) while shooting 45.5%
That’s a 12% increase while taking 2.5 more attempted threes per game. His shooting has kept the Celtics in games early with the Nets. With Jaylen Brown, Kemba Walker and Robert Williams out, the team is leaning on Smart and Tatum more than ever. Smart has the same shooting numbers
Evan Fournier is 5th in three-point shooting (48%) in the playoffs, minimum 20 attempts
Fournier had some excellent looks in Game 4 against the Nets, but finished 2-for-9. Boston needs Fournier, Aaron Nesmith, Grant Williams and Romeo Langford to hit their open threes for any chance of an upset Tuesday night.
But Evan Forunier has the sixth-worst field goal percentage differential (14.5%)
As good as Fournier has shot it so far these playoffs, the guys he’s defending are shooting 64.3%. Yes it’s the Brooklyn Nets, but yikes. For context, Tatum’s differential is -4.7 and Smart is -6.
Tristan Thompson is leading the playoffs in offensive rebounds (6.3)
At times during this series, Thompson seemed like the only one putting forth effort. So many Celtics fans who called into WEEI were ripping Danny Ainge for signing Thompson. Fans have to be happy if the Celtics can get 80% of the Thompson they are getting in the playoffs in 2021-22.
The Celtics are second in free throw attempts per game (28.5) -- a stat they finished 25th in with just 20.8 attempts per game in the regular season
28.5 attempts per game would lead the NBA in the regular season.