How Tatum’s ‘fingerprints ended up’ in Game 1 win over Mavs originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Celtics didn’t need Jayson Tatum to light up the scoreboard to beat the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals.
Tatum finished Thursday’s series opener with a modest 16 points on less-than-stellar 6-of-16 shooting. The five-time All-Star also had a game-high six turnovers in an offensive performance he’d probably like to forget .
Still, he found a way to leave his mark in the Celtics’ 117-89 victory.
Tatum led all players with 11 rebounds and tied for a game-high five assists. He had the second-highest plus/minus (+19), behind only teammate Jrue Holiday (+20). Additionally, he played solid defense to limit the Mavs’ secondary scorers.
At Fridays Early EditionOur Celtics insider Chris Forsberg has issued a message for those concerned about Tatum’s lack of scoring.
“Did you all see how every time he started to drive, there were three black jerseys surrounding him and he was forced to make the right play? Something he’s done consistently throughout these playoffs?” asked Forsberg. “I agree that comebacks are maddening, especially for a team that has been a Finals victim in previous seasons, but I thought Jayson made the right move. exactly what he needs to be in this series.
“Defensively, did you hear (Mavericks big men Daniel) Gafford or (Dereck) Lively’s name called a lot last night? Did they hit any of Luka’s (Doncic) shots last night? You want to know why? Because Tatum was denying to them the ability to get to the basket We were so caught up in the scoring, the efficiency and certainly the turnovers, but I thought his fingerprints were all over the game. And part of being a superstar is not just putting up the numbers, but doing it. the calculations. things that the casual observer doesn’t see or understand. And from the potential assists to the defense, Tatum was a star last night.”
Fellow analyst Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated noted that while he would have liked to see Tatum be more aggressive at the rim, he was pleased with his overall performance.
“I know we all want to see Jayson Tatum score 25, 30, 35 points,” he said. “But when you have guys on your team who are cooking — and (Kristaps) Porzingis was cooking in that first half, Jaylen Brown started in the second half — you don’t want to take four shots. to be a decoy on a team like this if the other guys are shooting, Derrick White, we don’t even talk about him, he was shooting in the first half of that game.
“So overall, I had no issues with the way Jayson Tatum played. If he could have just cleaned up the turnovers and played with a little more power at the rim, I think he would have had a great game.”
Tatum admitted that I experienced some nerves heading into Thursday night’s game. Now that the Game 1 jitters have been resolved, we should expect a bounce-back offensive performance from the first-team All-NBA selection when the series resumes Sunday night at TD Garden.
You can watch the full segment from the initial edition below, or on YouTube:
