FINDING A WAY TO FREE TATUM
C's need to get their star loose in Game 4
Jayson Tatum, whose 0-for- 4 second half performance on Saturday night ranks among the worst playoff performances in his young career, clearly needs to come forth with much more when Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals begins on Monday night against Miami.
“He knows he didn’t play his best,” Ime Udoka said following Sunday’s practice. “We know we can play a lot better as a team. And so, one thing he’s done is bounce back very well, and we’re looking forward to (that) with him.
“Competitive guy obviously,” said the Celtics coach. “One of the best in the league. He understands an opportunity was lost. Guys aren’t going to play great every night, but you can still make the right reads. And he’s still out there defending. I don’t have to say much to him. We’re all pissed off about it, him probably more than anybody. Look forward to a good response from him.”
But to get there, Tatum has to free himself up from the likes of P. J. Tucker, who was particularly successful against the Celtics star in Game 3. On one occasion in the second quarter, when losing control of the ball while trying to drive through a crowd, Tatum found himself on the floor fighting with four Heat defenders while trying to get the loose ball. Every Celtic on the floor, not just Tatum, has to work at freeing up this premier offensive threat.
“It’s a little bit of both. Taking him off the ball some,” Udoka said of solutions. “Off-ball actions always have worked well for him, whether he’s a screener or some flares and things like that because they are loading up on him every time he has the ball, but also understanding that they’re guarding him like this.
“He’s had huge playoff series so far. Teams are going to come after him, so for him, it’s looking to get guys involved early as he makes those passes and makes those reads, the defense always loosens up on him and he can get going himself,” said the Celtics coach. “And so for him, the physicality was there from the start like they’ve always done, PJ always does that. And we had some turnovers early, turnovers late in the second half as well when we got back in it, but also not seeing the ball going and starting to force a little bit there.
“So just finding a way to get him some easy shots early, understanding they’re gonna load up to four in the paint, five in the paint every time he penetrates. And so areas he’s improved on this year, gotta continue to trust his guys, and that will always free it up for him, but we can move him around a little bit more knowing they’re
switching everything, showing him a crowd, and he’s not going to get a lot of great looks when it’s isolation time.”
Grant Williams admits that part of the job falls on Tatum’s teammates.
“I feel like we did a good job of getting him opportu
nities at the point, but we didn’t do a good job of spacing and giving him a place to play how he plays,” said the Celtics forward. “They do a good job loading up and making sure they’re taking him quote out of the game quote un quote, but we have to do a better job of off-ball actions or even just making sure we understand that the screens we need to set, and they’re gonna shrink the court.
Sometimes, we might have to take some where he takes four in the second half, but others he might have to take more. So shot wise, I don’t think too much about whether he shot the ball or whether he didn’t shoot the ball. But what we could have done offensively to look better as a team.”
Injury updates
Though Marcus Smart finished the game on a
badly sprained right ankle, the point guard was in predictable pain Sunday. Udoka isn’t sure his best defender will be ready for a Game 4 return.
“Marcus has some swelling in his ankle. Took a pretty bad sprain,” said Udoka. “Obviously finished the game but he’s gonna feel it a little bit more today, getting worked on, getting treatment, and see how he feels tomorrow.”
Udoka added that Tatum, who suffered a shoulder stinger that required a brief fourth quarter exit, is “fine.”
Rob Williams, who missed Game 3 with recurring knee soreness, has actually improved.
“Feels better than he did yesterday,” said Udoka. “But like I said, he’s day-to- day and we’ll test it out tomorrow and see how he feels in shootaround.”