The Boston Celtics are currently up 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Jayson Tatum has struggled offensively in the playoffs, but he found his rhythm in Game 3 in Cleveland. Tatum scored 33-points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and made six assists to lead Boston across the board.
It was great to see Tatum find his rhythm in this game after what was a slow start to the series. He finished the night 11-of-25 shooting overall and took just as many free throws (9) as the entire Cavaliers team.
In the fourth quarter, Tatum went 1-on-1 with Max Strus, who’s done a great job of limiting Tatum when guarding him, but it was Tatum who made sure to let Strus know that he’s not going to take advantage of him anymore in the series by hitting is signature turnaround shot right in his face.
The media has been all over Tatum during the playoffs- challenging him to perform at a high level and to be consistent shooting the ball on offense. He responded well in Game 3 and sent a message to the media during postgame:
“I respect your guys’ job, I respect the guys on TV. I don’t always agree with the things that they say. When they’re fair, and they take emotion out of it, whatever way they’re leaning towards and they’re fair, I respect it.”
Tatum is averaging 41.3 percent shooting from the field (career low), 26.5 percent on 3-point shots (career low), and 84.1 percent from the free low line (lowest since 2019-20) in the eight games played in the playoffs so far.
This could be the game that Tatum needed to get back on track in the playoffs. Although he’s leading the Celtics in assists and rebounds per game, Boston will benefit greatly from his consistent scoring, if he’s able to things rolling again in this series.
Game 4 tips off at 7:00 PM on Monday from the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland.
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Photo Credit: Jason Miller, Getty Images
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