Jayson Tatum got a little glimpse of what it’s like following the Celtics over his eight-year career, courtesy of his son, who was celebrating a birthday on Friday.
“I’m only 26 but I felt old today,” he said after the game. “I got a seven-year-old.”
Jayson Tatum, Jr., a.k.a. Deuce, isn’t as little as he used to be. When the jumbotron flashed a happy birthday message and put him on the big screen, he flashed a smile with a nice, big gap an adult tooth will soon fill. We used to see Dad making a a hoop with his arms so Deuce could sink a few shots, now father and son are shooting at the same basket before games.
Both Jayson Tatums have grown a lot.
Daddy Tatum put on a birthday show for his kid, leading the Celtics to a big boy win over a much-improved Milwaukee Bucks team. It was not easy for the Celtics, who struggled through some rough shooting. But once again they showed not only why they are champions, but what becoming a champion has done for their collective psyche.
“They’re a made team. They’ve been through it,” Doc Rivers said after the game. “They have the ultimate trust. They’ll pass it until 1 second on the clock to try to find something. They did that a couple of times and that’s why they are what they are. That wasn’t them two years ago and it is them now and that’s what makes them the champions.”
A few years ago, they were Wile E. Coyote, thinking they were slick but watching things blow up in their face. Now they're pulling the old Bugs Bunny trick of stepping out of a falling box just before hits the ground, impervious to the laws of physical nature.
Boston was up three with 50 seconds to go, which is an eternity in the NBA (anyone who watched the end of Celtics-Cavs knows this). All Milwaukee had to do was get a stop and they had a chance to tie the game. With 39 seconds on the clock, and 12 on the shot clock, Tatum got the switch onto Brook Lopez the Celtics were hunting all night long. Tatum made his move with five on the shot clock. He passed the ball with 3.3 showing. Holiday caught it with 2.3.
Did he shoot? Nope.
He faked, shook himself free of Khris Middleton, and put up a floater that left his fingertips with .6 on the clock. It fell through as the buzzer sounded. Timeout Bucks with 25.6 left and only desperation options at their disposal.
“I think guys have a sense of awareness,” Tatum said. “Having been through it before, this group has played in a lot of basketball games. We’ve found a bunch of different ways to win. And we’re a special team. We won a championship last year and we understand the process of each night is going to look different and we still need to play the right way – our way.”
Their way might not seem very sportsmanlike, with them throwing all those 3-pointers around like they're wont to do. But it was also not very effective for most of the game. But just like in that dagger of a possession, the Celtics are keenly aware of how long an NBA game really is, how much time they have to get their way to work, and how many different versions of their way there really are.
“I thought our defense was tremendous throughout the entire game,” Joe Mazzulla said. “Usually when you … go through lulls offensively, at some point your defense cracks. And I thought tonight it didn't, mainly because I thought we got great shots almost the entire game. We made the right read when we got to our spacing, moved the ball. Any time you see the numbers from Jrue and from Al and from those guys, it just shows that we're breaking down the layers of their defense. So I thought our defense kept us in it, and I thought we continued to fight for great looks throughout tonight.”
The Celtics defense held the Bucks to 8-24 shooting in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the Celtics, who shot 46% overall and 32% from 3, shot 12-19 in the fourth and 5-12 (41.7%) from deep. Holiday dropped nine in the quarter, relishing the opportunity to bury his former teammates. He’s scored 20 twice this season, both against Milwaukee. He’s played 100 minutes against the Bucks in their three games this season, scoring 56 points on 46% 3-point shooting, dishing 12 assists with only one turnover.
“His versatility and the ability to change our defenses a little bit with him is huge,” Mazzulla said. “And then offensively, he can just make plays and he's gotten really good at finding ways to get his matchup to put two on the ball so he can create for others.”
Creating for others is the whole thing for Boston. For better or for worse, the Celtics would rather err on the side of passing up a layup if it means creating an open look for a teammate alone in the corner. And while I know that sounds insane to some people, the cumulative effect of that philosophy is what wins more games for the Celtics. Because that look can be a shot or it can be a pass. It can be a 3 or it can be a drive. As long as whatever is next is the right next thing to do, the Celtics are good.
“We have the right personnel to space the floor and put teams in uncomfortable situations where we can attack mismatches,” Tatum said. “It’s never like we come into the game like we gotta shoot 50 threes tonight. We just got a bunch of 40 percent shooters and guys that can attack off the dribble and we're just trying to make the right play.”
It wasn’t that long ago that the right play was up for interpretation. Tatum and the Celtics have, over time, not only learned what the right play is, but why making it every time is the best path to success. They have learned that no matter what obstacles are in their way at the time, there is time to continue pursuing the right play.
They had a lot of chances to feel like there were better options, but they didn’t give in to that temptation. Maybe they would have once upon a time, but on this night, they stuck to the plan, and it ultimately worked.
“It was a special night,” Tatum said. “I’ve been here – this is my eighth year, and these nights where you’re playing a team that’s really good with some special players, and the crowd is really involved, and guys are making plays and feeding off the energy of your teammates and of the crowd and the fans, the amount of times that we’ve won games in moments like that. It’s just another special night at TD Garden that I’ve been a part of.”
