Tatum’s strength is Luka’s weakness, and it’s deciding the NBA Finals

Tatum’s strength is Luka’s weakness, and it’s deciding the NBA Finals originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Jayson Tatum’s critics have one peculiar hang-up: They’re angry he isn’t someone else.

Why isn’t he as passionate as Jaylen Brown? Why isn’t he as fiery as Anthony Edwards? Why isn’t he as ruthless as Kobe Bryant?

But if the NBA Finals have proven anything, it’s that maybe we should start celebrating Tatum for who he is: a chill, no-drama superstar in the mold of Tim Duncan, Joe Montana, and Derek Jeter who has the Celtics on the verge of Banner 18.

The Finals have presented the perfect showcase for Tatum’s strength of personality by offering a careful-what-you-wish-for foil. Entering this series, Luka Doncic was universally hailed as the best player on the floor, the cornerstone you’d want to start a franchise with, the pick to win an MVP. Few would argue. The 2024 scoring champ is a breathtaking talent who bends the pace of the game to his will as the most uniquely unstoppable offensive force in basketball.

He’s also prone to fits of mercurial pique and moody instability that cost his team at the worst moments. Put less charitably, he can be a spoiled brat.

Doncic’s tantrums were on full display in Wednesday’s Game 3. He came out blazing as Dallas opened a 13-point lead in the first quarter. Then he went cold, started whining at the refs, and the Celtics made their inevitable comeback.

Twice, Doncic stayed on the floor after not getting calls while the Celtics scored on the odd-man rush. Then in the fourth quarter, after Dallas whittled a 21-point deficit to one, Doncic foolishly upended Jaylen Brown twice, earning his fifth and sixth fouls and an automatic disqualification. After the latter, he petulantly screamed at his bench to bleeping challenge it, like a toddler in a sandbox.

The Mavericks disputed both whistles, but the first resembled a Greco-Roman takedown, and the second withstood review. Both fouls were completely unnecessary, born from the fact that the Celtics have tortured Doncic all series on defense, where he grades as a broken turnstile.

He didn’t do himself any favors postgame, forsaking…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/tatums-strength-lukas-weakness-deciding-162516187.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2024-06-13 16:25:16

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