Jayson Tatum quiets any rookie wall talk with aggressive performance vs. Clippers

LOS ANGELES -- On most nights during this year, the Celtics’ offense falls apart when Kyrie Irving rests on the bench. The team’s offensive rating plummets from averaging 108.2 points per 100 possessions (top-10 in NBA) when he’s on the floor, to 97.2 points per 100 possessions when he sits (a few points below the NBA’s worst offense).

The Celtics managed to get away with this dropoff during the first 20 games of the season thanks to some stellar defense by the second unit, which offset the lack of offense within that group. That defensive performance has dropped off considerably over the last few weeks with the reserves and it’s a big reason why the Celtics had lost four straight games entering Wednesday's game against the Clippers. When Irving sits, the Celtics generally can’t score and when they can’t defend well either with him on the bench, this team is going to lose games.

With Al Horford sidelined on against the Clippers with lingering potential concussion symptoms, the pressure was going to be even greater on the C’s supporting cast. Who would be able to step up and carry the offense when Irving sat? Jayson Tatum was ready to answer the call.

The 19-year-old rookie broke out of a mini-funk in January (just 13 total points against Lakers and Magic) to show some valuable aggression when this team needed it the most. He took a career-high 16 shots during his 18-point night, knocking down 7-of-16 overall and 2-of-4 from 3-point range.

More importantly, several of those points came while Tatum was serving as a primary scoring option on a second unit with Shane Larkin, Terry Rozier, Semi Ojeleye and Daniel Theis. Tatum’s offense helped keep the Celtics afloat during those stretches, enabling the visitors to win 113-102 over the Clippers despite the fact Irving's plus/minus was only plus-2 for the night. For one night, the Celtics added to their leads while Irving rested and Tatum's scoring was a major reason why.

“That’s what we need from him,” Irving said after the game. “We just need him to be like that, just have that aggressive mindset. I’m here to remind him of that throughout the game, throughout the season: just take advantage of the opportunities that he’s afforded out there offensively and defensively. He can make a huge impact. And I think he’s aware of that. As a developing young player, the best thing he can do is just continue to learn how to be consistent. It’s a trait that you have to develop over time, and I think he’s doing a great job of kind of learning on the fly.”

The Celtics have Doc Rivers to thank for helping get the rookie going. He tried to hide point guard Milos Teodosic on him throughout both halves at points, instead of sticking 6-foot-3 guard on Irving or Jaylen Brown. The Celtics went after the mismatch on repeated occasions, as Tatum punished the smaller defender with strong moves to the rim and a jump shot that couldn’t be adequately contested.

“Just specific defenders out there you want to attack,” Irving said of the mismatch.  “And it was great for our team out there in terms of the spacing because they had to overhelp and it created other opportunities on the weak side for us. And guys were in the right positions and the ball was hopping. So we just wanted to create a few mismatches and I think we did that. Attacked the switch and hopefully executed at a high percentage tonight.”

While Tatum’s play has dropped off a bit of late (11.2 ppg, 40%FG in January), the added opportunities he got without Marcus Smart in the lineup was a bit eye-opening on Wednesday. He was persistent in seeking out his shot in what was a refreshing change from the passive rookie that served merely as a kick out option far too often over the last few weeks.

“I know I haven't been playing that well the last couple games,” Tatum admitted. “I was just trying to better, contribute more.”

For an offense that has ranked at the bottom of the league for the past month, Wednesday night was a promising sign. If this team is going to make a deep run this postseason, they need Tatum to show this type of aggression on a nightly basis. For now, though, any talk of a rookie wall came be put on hold.