Celtics star Jayson Tatum took responsibility for his poor performance in the first two games of the playoff series against the Knicks and vowed to improve for Saturday’s crucial Game 3.
I take full responsibility for my performance in this series and I can’t sugarcoat anything. I need to improve and I expect to do much better.
Jayson Tatum
Tatum’s shot has failed in the series, with only 12 of 42 shots (29%) and many three-pointers, where he has 5 of 20 (25%). In addition, he has only shot nine free throws in the two games and has committed eight turnovers, including the last play in the Knicks’ 91-90 victory in Game 2.
Players work very hard on their game and prepare to be in those moments to make open shots, and it just hasn’t happened in the last two games. But you can’t lose confidence.
Jayson Tatum
Tatum and his teammate, Jaylen Brown, have combined for 2 of 19 in shots in the fourth quarters of the series. The Knicks have come back from 20 points in the second half of both games and outscored the Celtics by 22 points in the final quarter.
It’s a credit to Tatum, I don’t think he appreciates the fact that he [takes responsibility], but I think it’s everyone’s responsibility. Everyone could be better. I could be better. The things I can help our team execute on throughout our team can be better. And yes, he can too. So it just says who he is by taking responsibility for that, and I hope he gets better.
Joe Mazzulla, Celtics coach
The Celtics gathered for a video session on Thursday, and one of the key points was for the team to maintain its confidence and not pass up shots. Tatum said that the meeting emphasized not letting problems affect the aggressive approach the Celtics have always had, as they rewrote the 3-point shooting record book in winning the championship last season and winning 61 games in the regular season.
Mazzulla, who has always believed that the volume of 3-point shots is the key to the team’s offensive success, emphasized that the team must have a realistic and working approach to its situation.
You can’t just have a pride and a pretense that we’re holier than now, that we can’t be down 0-2. This is the situation we’re in. So we have to understand why we’re in it and we have to fix it and we have the opportunity to fix it.
Joe Mazzulla, Celtics coach
Mazzulla also addressed the concerning situation with center Kristaps Porzingis, who left Game 1 due to illness and was only able to play 14 minutes off the bench in Game 2. Porzingis missed eight games in February and March due to mysterious respiratory problems that specialists had difficulty diagnosing.
He has been dealing with this since then and the condition worsened during Game 1, with Porzingis describing it as a “big energy dip.” He had eight points and four rebounds in limited but effective minutes on Wednesday, but said after the game that he didn’t feel good.
He gave us everything he has and with these two days of rest, hopefully, he can recover a little more. Each game will depend on the situation and how much he can play. But I am grateful for what he was able to do for us.
Joe Mazzulla, Celtics coach
