Jayson Tatum has not played his best game against the Knicks entering Saturday’s Game 3. Over the first two games of the series, Tatum had scored 36 points on 12/42 from the field.
He was better on Saturday afternoon, but I didn’t think he played his best game in the Celtics’ 115-93 win over the Knicks. He missed a lot of shots around the rim, but the good news for the Celtics was that he had his three-ball going, hitting 5 threes on 9 attempts. After the game, he gave great perspective and was as levelheaded as he usually is.
Tatum was asked about responding and how he has dealt with the criticism over recent days.
“Don’t think too much of it,” Tatum said. “It’s the playoffs. It’s the biggest time of the year. There’s gonna be a different narrative after every game… Just not riding the emotional rollercoaster after a win or a loss. This core group, we’ve been through a lot of series together, a lot of games, a lot of moments so just continue to rely on each other.”
He was then asked if he blocks out the noise, to which he simply stated, “yeah, I do.”
Two poor games to open the series started yet again a referendum on Tatum’s star status, and with a Knicks team gaining confidence in dethroning the defending champs, many in the media questioned his ability to make a statement.
“I wasn’t trying prove anything today to anybody. It was an important game, it was important for us to respond as a team. Just wanted to come out here and win, that’s all that was really on my mind,” Tatum said.
You understand what comes with being that guy,” he continued. “I live a great life — I ain’t going to lie. I make a lot of money. I take care of my family. I’ve been able to experience a lot of things. But you also have to accept what comes with that. I get a lot of praise. I get a lot of credit. I get a lot of accolades, but I’m not perfect and there’s times where I’ve needed to play better, I needed to do more, and that’s what comes with being that guy.”
Against a physical Magic team, Tatum was that guy, averaging over 31 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists. His numbers are down across the board in Round 2, but that hasn’t deterred the First Team All-NBAer.
“People don’t just criticize me. There’s a lot of people that came before me that they criticize and there’s going to be people that come after me that they criticize,” Tatum said. “For me, there’s a sense of joy that I play with. Coming into a game with an angry face and mad at the world, that’s not who I am. That’s not when I play my best. You gotta be the same person when things are going great and when things aren’t going great. You can’t switch up. That’s the character of a good man.”
