Jayson Tatum followed up his 40-point masterpiece against the Knicks with 33 against the Miami Heat as Boston continued their road dominance. The bulk of Tatum's damage came in the third quarter, where he scored 20 on 8-11 shooting to help put the game away.
After the game, Tatum said he felt he had to make up for some of the mistakes he made at the end of the second quarter, which directly led to a 7-0 Heat run to cut a 16-point lead down to nine.
"I think the way that we ended that first half, a lot of that was on me," Tatum said. "I just didn't have as much of an imprint on the game as I normally do in that first half, so (it was) just kind of time for me to wake up in the second half."
He did just that, and as you'll see, Tatum was able to dominate the third quarter by making incredibly quick decisions and destroying Miami defenders as soon as they made any little mistake.
This is simple, but important. He didn't overreact to Andrew Wiggins shooting the 3-pointer. He's a good enough 3-point shooter, but he struggled in this game so the contest Tatum showed was good. But then Tatum took off, which put pressure on Wiggins to get back down the floor. When Wiggins kind of mindlessly ran down the middle of the floor, Tatum went to the 3-point line and caught a quick kick-ahead from Derrick White.
This is what playing with good pace looks like. I consider that an exploratory pass. It was made to test the transition defense and see if, maybe, they could get something quick. If not, it would be easy to pull back and set the offense. But with Wiggins running down the court like Phoebe Buffay, it was worth the shot and Tatum drilled it.
When he hits those kinds of shots, it's time to buckle up.
Miami was playing drop coverage with Kel'el Ware, so the Celtics just decide to attack that.
Tatum usually likes going to his left on these shots, but they ran it to the right here. As soon as Tatum turned the corner and saw Ware below the 3-point line, he knew what he was doing.
Tatum knows that any big in that position is trying to guard against the drive to the basket, which means he's going to take a least one step backwards just to give himself a chance to keep up with a drive. If the big was above the 3-point line, then he might have tried to step up as part of a blitz. But because he was already back, Tatum could count on a brief retreat in the face of a hard dribble, which means he knew he could rise up for an un-challenged 3-pointer.
This is where the game really gets connected.
Tatum has Ware thinking 3-pointer after drilling that last shot in his face. So this time the Celtics set Tatum up to go left. Tatum hit Ware with a hesitation move that stood the big man up as he thought about challenging the shot.
Just watch Tatum's footwork. It looks like he's stepping into a shot. But instead, Tatum crossed over and got Ware on his hip. There's a help defender who jabs at Tatum but then retreats to White in the left dunker spot. Ware can't stop his momentum and Bam Adebayo was worried about Kristaps Porzingis in the corner, so he wasn't prepared to challenge what became a very easy look for Tatum in the midrange.
On the surface, this looks like Tatum playing with the ball and taking a 3. But why did Tatum decide to take a 3? He decided once he saw this:
Terry Rozier is 6-1 and he's trying to force Tatum to the middle. He's trying to encourage Tatum to drive past him and into the waiting help of his big men. So Tatum immediately processes (a) major height advantage and (b) the body positioning is leaving the shooting hand free.
This is the purpose of all that dribbling. Tatum was probing, not just playing with the ball. He's getting the defense to tell him what the plan is so he can figure out how to attack it knowing that Rozier is going to give up something. So when he saw what Rozier's body angled the way it was, Tatum knew a little side-step right would give him a clean look with no chance of getting challenged.
The first part here is simple. Tatum just blows by Alec Burks. But what he does after is the fun part.
Burks is too slow to keep up with Tatum, so when Tatum got by him, instead of sliding, Burks had to turn his hips. As soon as he turned his hips, that right leg crossed in front of his left. And as soon as Tatum saw THAT, he attacked the outside leg because he knew it would be impossible for Burks to turn back over under any kind of control.
This is why great defenders slide their feet. A good defender would have just pivoted. Then again, Tatum wouldn't have done that against a good defender. He would have read that differently.
I hope everyone is appreciating how quickly Tatum sees these things and attacks them. The reads he makes in the moment are incredible.
Pelle Larsson reached in as Tatum was half-spinning and as he tried to recover, Tatum spun the other way and beat him. Tatum didn't wait for the pick. He just blew by Larsson, and when he got to the paint, he hesitated slightly as he faced what looked like a triple team.
But on that hesitation, the other two Heat defenders ran back out to their men, Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser, because they were afraid of the 3-point threat and Tatum's ability to find them. Because Tatum still had his dribble, and incredible body control, he just lunged forward again and finished the tough layup.
Posting Tatum against Rozier isn't fair. Tatum spun off that and was past Rozier with one dribble. Then it was time to put Adebayo on skates by using his momentum against him.
If you watch carefully after Tatum gathers, you'll see a little pass fake to the right dunker spot. That's why Adebayo, a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate, looked like me slipping on ice trying to get the mail. Tatum saw Adebayo's momentum, he pulled Adebayo a little bit closer with the fake, and then busted by him to the left.
Again, another super-quick read that freed himself up for an easy bucket.
Poor Duncan Robinson. Tatum just blew by him, and because Rozier has shown he's ALWAYS going to jab and retreat to his man, Tatum never even worried about a double-team. He just kept going and he drew the foul. Tatum had processed how Miami was playing him and knew what to expect from the help defenders.
This is as dominant as it gets. This had every element of basketball brilliance. Tatum used his physical gifts, his wits, and his basketball IQ to thrash the Heat. It's some of the best basketball I've seen him play.