Jayson Tatum Clearly Heard The Slander And Once Again Showed The World Why He's One Of The Best Basketball Players On Earth

Maddie Meyer. Getty Images.

Over the course of an NBA season, you learn that not all regular season games are created equal. While they all count for the same thing in terms of what it does to the team's record, once you add the context around each game, some are certainly bigger than others. 

Which brings us to last night. #1 team in the East vs #1 team in the West. Even though it wasn't a full strength game for both sides (Gobert/Conley out for MIN, Porzingis out for BOS), make no mistake, this was a big time matchup. Add in what happened the first time these two teams met in an OT thriller earlier in the year, and this was one of the few statement games you get during the year. Coming off what happened against the Pacers and with the Bucks on the horizon on the second end of the B2B, I was very curious to see how the Celts looked last night. The Wolves are one of the rare teams that have the length and athleticism to give the Celts fits, so it was going to require high level execution and a whole lot of mental toughness to pull out the win.

Now having done it, I'd say the Celts were pretty damn good in terms of their execution while using a shit ton of mental toughness.

In the standings, last night counted for just 1 win to move the Celts to an NBA best 29-8. But to any Celts fan who watched how that game unfolded, it felt like more. That wasn't just your run of the mill early January regular season win. It was a win that told us this team has guts. It was a win that confirmed what we already knew, that this team is a fucking wagon. It was a win that reminded the world who just so happens to be the best duo in the entire NBA. It was a win that put us through every human emotion possible over the course of 48+ minutes. 

And maybe most importantly, it was a win that you see a champion have. Of the Celtics 29 wins on the season, only a handful would be what I would consider a "championship caliber" win. Last night was one of those moments. Who they beat, how they did it, if you wanted to call this the best win of the year, I wouldn't fight you too hard. 

It was a massive win. We may as well jump right in.

The Good

- If there's one thing every single one of us should be doing every day the second we wake up each morning, it's thanking the Basketball Gods that Jayson Tatum is a member of the Boston Celtics. While the national media spends their time talking about how he's having a down year or that his title window is closed at age 25, here on planet earth all I see is a generational Celtic and one of the best players in the entire league. 

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Jayson Tatum entered the 4th quarter at the 8:14 mark with the Celtics down 93-87. You could make the case that the game was in the balance at this moment. In a spot like this, you're hoping the best player will put the team on his back and carry them over the finish line, not just through his scoring but also in how he defends as well. This was it. This was time for Tatum to show the world why he's Jayson Tatum.

From that moment on, Tatum was the best player on earth. 

In the biggest moments of the game, who showed up? Jayson Tatum

Look at that shit! 

In the end, 13-26 (6-11) from the floor, 13-14 from the FT line, and only 1 TO in his 42 minutes. The way Tatum took over this game late is exactly what we all hope to see him do in these big moments. He was aggressive at attacking the rim and getting to the line, in the high pressure moments, he didn't settle. The OT drive on KAT was a great example of that. In fact, Tatum bullied the shit out of KAT all night, finishing with 16 points on 6-8 shooting in that matcup. Then when it came time to deliver the Kiss Of Death, Tatum delivered that dagger with confidence.

When your team is on life support and the game is on the line, watching Tatum rip a victory from the jaws of defeat was as special as it gets. For those of us who watch Tatum every night, it was more of the same. This certainly wasn't the first time we've seen Tatum have a dominant close like this, and it definitely won't be the last. This is who he is and what he does. Let opposing fanbases cry on Twitter all they want because they're upset Tatum is better than their favorite player. Let the talking heads slander his name just for the engagement. None of that shit matters. What matters is what Tatum is doing on the court, and that my friends, is pretty fucking good

Just so you know, Tatum is shooting 46/41% over his last 12 games. To say his 3pt shot is back doesn't even really do it justice, but we're seeing Tatum knock down every three point type you could imagine. Stepbacks, sidesteps, catch and shoots, pullups, it's all been cash since the Clippers win. 

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Considering we have now entered the part of the NBA calendar where Jayson Tatum turns into the second coming of Christ, I'd say we're right on schedule. When he's at this level, I'm not sure what an opposing team can do. The Wolves are one of the only teams in the league that have the players who in theory should give Tatum trouble, and he just dropped a dominant 45 right in their eyeball. What a player, what a performance.

- And yet, it gets even better. You see last night wasn't just a reminder that Jayson Tatum is one of the best players in the entire NBA, it was also a reminder that the best duo in the entire NBA resides in Boston. Cry about it if you want, but that's the reality

Oh that's right, this Jaylen Brown fella also exists. All he did was finish with 35/11/3/2/1 with 2 TOs in his 43 minutes. If you thought Tatum was efficient, well Jaylen was right there behind him with 9-16 (4-7) and 13-13 from the FT line. Once again showing up early and getting the Celts off to a good start with 15 first quarter points, Jaylen Brown continues to play the best basketball of his entire career. 

Remember all the hate Jaylen got for a random down performance in early November? Weird anti-Jaylen fans were foaming at the mouth to unleash insane hate. Hell, we even got more of it from those same people after the IND loss despite Jaylen having a massive night. Do we all see how insane that shit is? 

Instead of appreciating how fucking lucky we are as fans that we have both of these players on the Celtics, for some reason any time the Celtics lose a game there has to be this Jaylen vs Tatum civil war. It's so fucking stupid. The reason the Celtics are a wagon is becaue of BOTH Tatum and Brown. If they are going to win the title, it's going to require BOTH players to play to their potential. 

As the best players, it's not only about showing up on the offensive end, you have to be just as dominant as a defender. The way Jaylen (and Tatum) stepped up defensively down the stretch of this game is maybe the biggest reason why they were able to pull this win out

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Jaylen took the Edwards assignment and completely shut him off down the stretch. Edwards finished just 3-7 in that matchup with 2 TOs, and given how things looked late the last time these two teams played, I'd say that was a pretty significant improvement. 

80 combined points from the Jays. Insane defense from both down the stretch. Big buckets late. All against one of the best team in the league. If that isn't enough to show you the value of these two as a duo, I'm not sure anything will. 

- As dominant as the Jays may have been, we should definitely not ignore the reality that if not for Jrue Holiday, both of those performances meant nothing. On a night when Holiday couldn't buy a basket to save his life, (5-15, 2-10), when it came time to make two of the biggest plays of the night, Holiday did his part and delivered.

First, there was the corner three

Just a massive shot. Coming off a missed FT, the Celts went from disaster to a lead in about 3 seconds all thanks to Jrue. The fact that he made this shot shouldn't come as a surprise, because guess who is the best corner 3pt shooter in the league right now? Oh that's right, Jrue Holiday

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That make alone would have been more than enough to salvage his rather brutal offensive night. Fortunately for us, Holiday wasn't done. The Tatum Kiss Of Death three? We can thank Holiday for that too

The way Jrue was so casual as he stole that ball made me laugh in real time. The calmness he showed in such a chaotic moment is such an accurate display of who Holiday is as a player. A perfect double on Ant, the perfect placement with his hands to snag the ball, and then once he had it there was no panic. Nothing was out of control and he pushed the ball allowing the defense to shift in a way that opened up Tatum for the clean three. 

These may have just been two plays, but the Celtics do not win the game without both. I love that Holiday still had the confidence to take that corner three without hesitation, even with his prior struggles. I loved his ability to read the situation and execute the perfect double, and then cap it off by understanding the moment of the game and making sure Tatum was the one who took the shot. 

- I've watched a lot of Celtics teams in my lifetime. Some great, most not so great. All my life I heard about the Russell Celtics, the Bird Celtics etc. How dominant they were and how things were just "different" back then.

So, to see something like this

Is pretty insane. No person who has ever watched Celtics basketball since their inception has ever seen them start a season 18-0 at home. No Russell team, no Halvicek team, no Bird team, no Pierce team etc. A Jayson Tatum team? Yup. 

We all know none of that matters if they aren't lifting the trophy in June, but take a fucking chill pill and take a step back and appreciate what we're watching. This may very well be one of the greatest Celtics teams we've ever seen, and that's in no way hyperbole. 

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I mean holy shit. 

- 30-31 from the FT line is exactly why I get so upset when I see the Celts have multiple games where they miss 8+. They are way too good of a shooting team to be dicking around like that from the FT line. As we saw last night, FTs are important. When you play a good team, you can't leave 8-10 points at the line. Had the Celts done that again last night, this is not a win.

- I was very surprised to see the Celts finish with just 8 TOs against that type of defense with that type of length. They had 16 in the first meeting (loss), so for them to cut that number in half was very important. It kept the Wolves out of transition (6 fast break points) and they only had 9 points off TOs.

If the Celts aren't going to spend all game turning it over and throwing the ball to the other team, chances are you're not going to beat them.

- Another solid performance from Joe who continues to have a very good Year 2. His timeout usage was solid, I thought his rotations were solid with KP out, when they needed to execute it felt like he had everyone organized etc. He'll never get the credit he deserves and that's fine. If you actually watch the games you can see how much better he's been.

The Bad

- I'll be honest, I haven't totally loved what we've seen defensively from this team over the last week or so. Over their last handful of games the Celts own the 23rd ranked defense in the legaue, and are giving up 118 points a night. Last night, the Wolves never had a quarter under 26 points, and were another opponent to shoot over 40% from deep against the Celts. That's been a trend that's existed since December, and we're not basically in mid January.

For the majority of last night's game, it felt like every time the Celts needed that momentum stop, they couldn't get it. Whether it was a 3PM or a play at the rim, it felt like the Wolves had an answer every single time the Celts attempted to make their final push. It wasn't that different from the IND loss where both teams traded 3s for like 4 straight possessions in the 4th quarter.

In their last 5 games, we've seen the Celts give up at least 120 points 3 times, 2 of which ended in losses. That is certainly not the level we're used to seeing them defend at, and it's going to need to continue to get better as the season goes on.

- We've lived through slumps of pretty much everyone on the roster so far this season, and currently, we're living through the slump of Derrick White. 

Call it the JJ Redick podcast curs, call it just a random slump, do whatever you want. The fact remains that over his last 4 games we're seeing Derrick put up 31/27% splits. That's pretty brutal. It's not just his 3s either, Derrick's even been missing his usually automatic floater, which is how you can tell he's really going through it.

Just like the others did, White will break out of this slump too. He's too good not to, and we all know he's not going to shoot 31/27% forever. But I also can't sit here and tell you he's been good during this stretch. 

- Naz Reid is officially stamped as a Celtics killer. Every time he plays the Celts I feel like he puts up 19/10 off the bench like he did last night. It's annoying, but he's also really good so I get it.

The Ugly

- What the hell was going on at the end of the first and second quarter? Seriously, how does anyone possibly explain these possessions?

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Not only that, but they also turned it over on their final possession of the 3rd quarter as well. I dunno if this was a lack of focus or what, but I'm going to need the execution in these situations to be WAY better. These are the types of mistakes that often bite you in the ass by the end of the game, and I'd say the Celts were pretty lucky that it didn't in this game. 

- Pretty gross 3rd quarter all things considered. On one end we saw the Celts shoot 36/36% which stinks, and then on the other the Wolves put up 52/83%. Another 3rd quarter where the Celts came out kind of flat and then never really recovered, and last night was actually the first time they won a game after losing the 3rd quarter.

It's been a while since they've been poor in that frame, but this is now back to back games we've seen it. They allowed 44 points against IND the other night, and then another 32 last night on those splits. That cannot continue to happen.

We now turn the page to a B2B against the Bucks, who have had 2 days off to prepare for this matchup. I think we can assume Horford won't play, so this will be yet another test for this group to make a statement. The Celts have a chance to build a 5 game lead over MIL with the win as well as a 2-0 lead H2H which could matter down the road. To back up this win against MIN with another win against the Bucks would be rather impressive, and if there's a team out there that could do something like that, it's this one.