Jaylen Brown has led the way for the Celtics in the playoffs, averaging 23.6 points per game with a 52.8 field goal percentage through the first seven games of this playoff run for Boston.
However, Brown’s counterpart, Jayson Tatum, has been struggling through the playoffs, only averaging 21.7 points per game on a 40.7 field goal percentage, which is significantly lower than his regular season average of 47.1 and his 44.1 career playoff field goal percentage.
During team shootaround ahead of Game 3 in Cleveland, Brown talked about his teammates’ struggles and how he’s working through it all.
“Finding other ways to be impactful. Don’t want to start forcing anything. Just keep playing the way— drawing the mismatches, stretching out the defense. It helps the flow of our offense a lot more. Just keep playing… he’ll be fine, Jayson’s one of the best players in the world… just take it for what it is and make the right play.”
Tatum has been inconsistent and inefficient on offense, but he hasn’t let it impact his defense too much on the other end. As Brown said, he needs to find other ways to make his imprint on the game and I think it’s simply just his presence on the court that can make the difference.
Despite scoring struggles, Tatum is leading the Celtics in rebounds (10.0) and assists (5.4) in the playoffs.
He’s finding ways positive ways to impact the game, but he’ll need to play like the best player on the court for the Celtics to win a championship.
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