Although the Boston Celtics are up 2-0 in the NBA Finals over the Dallas Mavericks, Jayson Tatum hasn’t hit many shots, but he’s making the right plays and still contributing to Boston winning the first two games.

Tatum is averaging 17.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 8.5 assists per game on 12-of-38 shooting overall and 4-of-14 from behind the arc in the Finals. With the way Dallas is defending him with blitzes and sometimes triple-teams, he’s now focused on being a facilitator and doing some of the dirty work on defense and through rebounding.

“I’d love to have back some of those layups I missed and the open threes. Law of averages says they’ll come back. But my focus right now is how can I dominate the game in other ways? My defense, my passing, my rebounding. That’s what I’m focused on.”

“Every time I take a couple of dribbles, there’s like three people right there. We got a bunch of shooters out there, guys that can space the floor. They kept leaving Jrue open, so it wasn’t like I had to do anything spectacular. It was just a matter of finding the open guy.”

In the playoffs, Tatum is leading the Celtics in points (26.0), rebounds (10.4), assists (6.3), and free throw attempts (5.9) per game. He became the fifth player in NBA history to lead a team in all of the top statistical categories in a single playoff run (14 games).

Tatum’s had an overall impactful two games in the Finals despite not shooting well. He’s reading the floor and giving exactly what his team needs, leading them in passing, potential assists, and assist points.

Tatum’s impacting the game in other ways that matter and it’s not talked about enough as a positive thing for him and it’s likely due to the low shooting numbers.

It’s worth noting that Tatum is on the verge of averaging a triple-double in the Finals if he continues to make passes at the rate that he’s going.

Here’s a look at his shot charts from the first two games:

The Mavericks are doing everything they can to limit Tatum’s scoring production, to which they’ve done a great job of doing so, buts he’s a savvy passer and can run the offense through himself.

Dallas might be limiting Tatum in one element, but he’s only transferring that production to another area of his game because he’s simply just that good.

The Finals shifts from Boston to Dallas for the next two games, with Game 3 on Wednesday from the American Airlines Center.

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Photo Credit: Adam Glanzman, Getty Images