Jayson Tatum's evolving potential and six other numbers of note in Celtics-Heat

For almost any NBA player, life gets a lot harder in the NBA playoffs. Double teams are more frequent, team defenses are more sophisticated and easy scoring options that were there during the regular season simply fade away.

“The playoffs are nothing like the regular season," Warriors GM Bob Myers explained last year at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. "They are two completely different sports…In the playoffs, (a player’s) first move is gone…whatever they know he does well, it’s gone.”

That reality usually impacts the consistency of any player on a night-to-night basis. It’s hard to sustain good numbers, especially when you are the focus of a team’s defense on a nightly basis for up to seven straight games when the stakes are high. Yet as the Celtics enter Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday night, Jayson Tatum has not only been consistent but he's been able to sustain some significant improvements he’s made in his game over the first two-plus rounds.

Here’s a look at Tatum’s current playoff numbers along with his ranks among remaining active players this postseason.

PPG: 25.3 (5th)
RPG: 10.3 (3rd)
APG: 4.6 (8th)
BPG 1.1 (3rd)
Double-Doubles: 8 (4th)
+/-: 7.0 (5th)

The only other player in the NBA playoffs to finish in the top-8 in all of these categories while still playing? LeBron James.

A closer look at Tatum’s individual numbers shows some sizable improvement in several key areas, something that is largely unheard out of during postseason play. A few of the more noteworthy gains.

FTA/G: 4.7 to 7.2

RPG: 7 to 10.3

APG: 3 to 4.6

Assist rate doubled (10 to 20 percent)

The gains have gone beyond counting stats as well. With increases in his true shooting percentage and free throw rate from his regular season numbers, Tatum's efficiency is on the rise. He isn’t just strengthening his All-Star case for the future, he’s building a pretty strong resume that he’s a top-10 player in the NBA right now by turning other parts of his game besides scoring into strengths. Currently, he leads all Celtics in the playoffs in points, rebounds and blocks while ranking second in assists.

“He's always had great vision, and people have paid him a lot of attention, certainly off actions when he has the ball, blitzing pick-and-rolls, even in some games earlier this year running and jumping in the half court,” Brad Stevens said. “You know, I think all of those experiences as they happen more and more, you get more comfortable reading those things and making the next right play. He did a good job moving the ball the last couple games and getting other guys those opportunities to drive. And then he was able to be the beneficiary of getting it back a few times, as well.”

His Game 3 performance (25 points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists) was his sixth straight 20-plus point game, giving him more 20-point games before age 23 than anyone besides Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. He’s also posted double-doubles in five of his last seven postseason games, which is already half his double-double output (10) from the entire regular season.

In order to claw back from a 2-0 series deficit against an elite Heat opponent, the Celtics will need to have a player hit a different level in this series. The numbers say Tatum is slowly but surely turning into that guy.

Other Numbers of Note heading into Celtics-Heat Game 4

—Grant Williams is leading the Celtics in 3-point shooting (62.5 percent) and sixty percent of his shot attempts (15 of 25) have come from 3-point range this postseason.

—A number the Heat will likely focus on ahead of Game 4: Daniel Theis is shooting 16.7 percent from 3-point range this postseason (4-of-24). Bam Adebayo was giving him plenty of respect on the perimeter in Game 3 when Theis hung in the corner and it took away Miami’s rim protection in the process. In Game 4, I’d expect Theis to be largely ignored on the perimeter until he shows he can make a couple of jumpers.

—Jaylen Brown’s free throw shooting (85.1 percent) ranks third on the team this postseason and is a 13 percent increase from his season average despite taking the same number of free throws each game (4.3). Thanks in large part to this improvement, the Celtics are the second best free throw shooting team in the NBA this postseason, knocking down 81.3 percent of their attempts.

—Enes Kanter has a 23.3 percent offensive rebounding rate in his 17 minutes against the Heat. His first half minutes are solely a byproduct of this edge outweighing his defensive woes.

—Duncan Robinson has not attempted a 2-point shot over the first three games in this series (27 shots). Jae Crowder has only taken four two-point shots out of his 33 shot attempts.

—Jimmy Butler only ranks fourth in field goal attempts for the Heat in this series (12.7 attempts per game). Would expect to see his aggression level increase in the upcoming games in this series to ensure Miami doesn’t continue to fall into early holes offensively.