Tatum one cool customer
Nails game-winner in debut
SALT LAKE CITY — Jerome Allen’s first chance to design a game-winning play was high on reward with only a smattering of risk.
The Celtics trailed by a point when they inbounded the ball with 17.8 seconds left and, per the coach’s direction, swung it to Jayson Tatum. Everyone got out of the way for an isolation jumper.
“Just like I drew it up, and I didn’t draw up anything,” said Allen, the Celtics assistant coach who is running the C’s entry in the Utah Summer League.
Tatum, isolated on Philadelphia’s Alex Poythress, took a peek back at Allen, and when the coach signaled to attack, the Celtics rookie drove right, easily lost Poythress, and with six seconds left drained an easy, high-arcing jumper from 16 feet.
Markelle Fultz, who the Sixers chose with the first pick of the draft after acquiring it from the C’s, was blocked by Jaylen Brown down the other end, preserving Tatum’s first NBA splash and the Celts’ 89-88 victory.
Allen keeps referring to Tatum as an old soul in a 19-year-old body, and the reason began to come into focus last night.
“He’s an old soul with a pro-like approach. He doesn’t get rattled or show a lot of emotion,” said Allen. “Just plays at his pace, like he’s been here before. He’s 19, and I have such appreciation for that because it was his first summer league game, and he made plays, and not only that shot. He was aggressive, shared the ball, defended, rebounded.
“I was really just trying to give him the ball and get everyone out of his way. It was a big shot. Not easy.”
In Tatum’s mind, though, it was simply a matter of muscle memory.
“The shot I made before, maybe a minute or a couple possessions before, it was in the same spot,” said the 6-foot-8 rookie. “So I was just trying to get back to the middle of the floor. My teammates and the coaching staff had confidence in me to give me the ball that last play and tell me to go. That helped me out a lot, that extra boost of confidence.”
Tatum’s confidence was merely one of the qualities on display for the Celtics summer leaguers.
Brown, with 29 points and 13 rebounds, was undoubtedly the best athlete/ player on the floor, and has a good chance of maintaining that status all the way through Las Vegas.
Rookie power forward Semi Ojeleye is versatile enough to defend summer league point guards when they try to isolate him, Ante Zizic (nine points, five rebounds) is as raw as he is strong, and Abdel Nader (13 points, seven rebounds) really looks like he doesn’t want to go back to the Maine Red Claws.
And Tatum has the calmest demeanor on the floor.
Consider the second quarter, when the rookie forward attempted to post up Timothe LuwawuCabarrot.
The Sixers’ second year swing man, much stronger than the 210-pound Tatum at this stage, easily knocked the 19-year-old Celtic off the block, and as the whistle blew, gave Tatum a shove into the Celtics bench.
Maybe this is what happens to a No. 3 pick — opponents were eager to test Brown last year. But to Tatum’s credit, he came right back off the inbounds play with a smooth fadeaway jumper over LuwawuCabarrot. Tatum then came back a minute later with his first 3-pointer of the night.
Now he was in a rhythm. Roughly a minute after the 3-pointer, he drove down the lane with a tomahawk dunk over 7-footer Kaleb Tarczewski.
Someone from the stands shouted, “Larry Nance” as Tatum calmly got back on defense.
For Tatum, that smooth demeanor is apparently what passes for excitement.
“I guess I might be a little nervous. First NBA game. But I’m excited,” he said. “I haven’t played a game in a long time, so just to step on the floor and compete, I’m excited. Everything happens so fast. Way faster than college. Just to be playing in the NBA summer league … it’s a dream come true.”
And to make sure Tatum kept a level head on the eve of his dream, Brad Stevens texted some support.
“I texted Jayson (yesterday) that the most important thing was playing hard and getting a feel for our system,” said the Celtics coach. “Whatever happens (last night), I don’t really care with regard to stat lines and those types of things. It’s more about are you getting one step closer to being what you need to be to help our team next year. So we’re looking forward to the game and this is a good chance for these guys to get out here and run around a little bit.”
Tatum, felt another of those confidence surges with Stevens and Danny Ainge in attendance.
“That text message, that meant a lot,” he said. “Told me to relax and not to worry about what people are saying about me and Markelle right now, things like that. Told me to go out there and compete and, no matter if we won or lost, if I made shots or if I didn’t, he just wanted this time, summer league, for me to just compete as hard as I can and see how I do.”