Finger has Tatum off his game
NOTEBOOK
LOS ANGELES — It’s been almost two months since Jayson Tatum dislocated his right pinkie during a Dec. 21 Celtics loss to Miami.
When the Celtics rookie took the podium for yesterday’s Rising Stars Challenge media session, Tatum glanced at the swollen, red knuckle on his shooting hand.
Though he won’t quite admit the finger has influenced his shooting, he does admit that his numbers haven’t been as good since the injury.
“I don’t like to make excuses, but I guess I did see where my numbers went down since I dislocated my finger. It doesn’t hurt or anything,” he said.
Asked how it feels now, and whether it ever affected his shooting, Tatum said, “Maybe at first, but it’s doable now.”
He certainly didn’t seem impeded last night, albeit as part of the losing side in the World team’s 155-124 win over Team USA. Though teammate Jaylen Brown stole the show for the losing side with a 35-point performance, Tatum scored 15 points on 7-for-13 shooting, though he was only 1-for-5 from downtown.
High marks for Brown
Brown, who wasn’t invited to this event last season, made up for lost time with a stat line that included 35 points on 14-for-21 shooting, including three 3-pointers and six dunks. The free-flowing nature of these events certainly fits his athletic gifts.
Brown scored more points than any previous Celtics in this event, which used to be known as the rookie-sophomore game. Antoine Walker held the old mark with 20 points.
“That’s cool. It’s just a tremendous opportunity. I just came out and played some basketball,” he said. “Playing in front of a world audience. As a player with a chip on my shoulder I just wanted to come out with some tenacity that I want people to recognize, that I want people to see. I want to play with that fire and let everything fall into place.”
Though Brown started and Tatum came off the bench, they later played together — a development Brown especially relished.
“JT’s my brother,” Brown said. “This year we’ve grown tremendously together. Me and him have gotten better together. Anytime you can grow with someone in this league and also be successful, it’s always dope being part of situations like this. I think the Rising Stars Challenge is pretty cool. In the future if we stay together and continue to grow, we could be special.”
One-and-done buddies
Tatum is getting an extra kick out of his first All-Star Weekend because of the teammates he’s mixing with — fellow draft class members Dennis Smith Jr. of the Dallas Mavericks and De’Aaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings.
“Especially the guys who have gone one and done, so the guys who are my age,” he said. “We played against each other growing up. So me, Dennis, Fox — I’ve been playing against Fox since like third grade.”
Ben there and doing that
Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons is not only the front-runner for Rookie of the Year, he’s getting compared to some big names — most specifically Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson.
The cocky Sixers rookie was reverential on the subject yesterday.
“That’s amazing,” said Simmons, who because of his roots in Australia played for the World team. “It’s kind of cool to be mentioned with those guys, but I want to break those records.”
Simmons also believes he is just scratching the surface, saying, “Just a few games in I feel like I’m just getting started. I’m what, 54 games into my first year? To me it’s kind of scary.”