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BOSTON — It’s entirely possible Jason Kidd was correct. Maybe Jayson Tatum isn’t the Boston Celtics’ best player.
It’s also becoming increasingly evident it may not matter much.
On Sunday, in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Boston took a 2-0 series lead against the Mavericks behind a 105-98 victory despite Tatum’s brutally inefficient shooting night. He was a downright awful 6-of-22 from the field, was held to 18 points, and made only one of his seven 3-pointers. These shooting struggles that have plagued him most of this postseason.
Which is not to say he played poorly.
Tatum’s game is a kind of Rorschach test. If you’re in search of a classic “best player,” as Kidd coined Jaylen Brown on Saturday before Game 2, and you understandably look to offensive output and late-game scoring as part of that, Tatum may well come up short. But if you can see him, and Boston, for what each are — something unique for a would-be championship team, and for a supposed superstar — a different picture emerges altogether
Tatum on Sunday was a force as a creator (he had 12 assists), and he continued his rebounding prowess, often snatching boards (he had nine) at critical moments. He, like almost everyone of his teammates, is outstanding defensively. His excellence, however it’s measured, adds up in the strange alchemy of this Boston team to a rarified and necessary ingredient in this historically great season.
So, yes, Tatum was really, really good — along with several of his teammates. Brown dropped 21 points and dished seven dimes. Derrick White had 18, hit several big shots and poured in eight points in the fourth quarter — a key closer with a clutch block as Dallas made a desperate late-game push. Jrue Holiday, who kept hounding and confounding Kyrie Irivng on defense, also had a team-high 26 points.
Holiday was probably, to use Kidd’s words from Saturday, the Celtics’ “best player” on Sunday.
But also: Who cares?
It very-much appears this team has no need for a traditional star around whom everyone else orbits, looking for light when things get…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/2024-nba-finals-whos-the-celtics-best-player-it-doesnt-matter-vs-star-reliant-mavericks/
Author : Bill Reiter
Publish date : 2024-06-10 04:18:28
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