Jayson Tatum has a lot on his plate this season. Playing without Jaylen Brown for the first time in his career, the Celtics need him to be their top scorer and facilitator against even more disproportionate defensive attention.
Tatum’s shot wasn’t on in Boston’s season-opening loss to the Cavaliers, when they coughed up a big lead as Tatum shanked 10 of his 11 second-half shots and finished 6 for 23 from the floor. But he had 11 assists as he consistently commanded double teams.
In Game 2 on Friday, Tatum got the scoring going with 36 points on 54% shooting as the Celtics fended off the Knicks (who have started 0-2, by the way) down the stretch to notch their first win. He’s yet to find his 3-point stroke (3 for 17 to open the season), but he was tremendous getting into the paint as both a scorer and passer (more on this in a bit) and he closed the game out with three straight superstar buckets. Let’s break them down.
Tatum’s takeover
Game tied, 1:25 to play
Tatum snakes his way downhill, gets cut off at the rim, dribbles back out into a post-up, spins on Josh Hart and hits a nasty fadeaway. There is absolutely nothing a defender can do with this.
Celtics up three, 50 seconds to play
Tatum is in jail, stuck in the right corner with Josh Hart draped on him and the shot clocking about to run out. He tries to create space with a side step/escape dribble, but it yields nothing. All he can do is clear what little space he can with a swing through, lean back and fire one up over Hart’s outstretched fingertips. Cash.
Celtics up three, 30 seconds to play
After a pair of OG Anunoby free throws, the Knicks are once again a single stop from getting the ball back with a chance to tie the game. Tatum doesn’t let it happen. He goes left off a ball screen, gets Karl-Anthony Towns on a switch, gives him a little pump and rises up from 3. Game over.
That’s probably not the shot you want from Tatum in that situation. At that point, he was 2 for 16 from 3 on the season and there is still double digits on the shot clock. Joe Mazzulla is big on two-for-one shots, and that was likely in Tatum’s thinking at the 30-second mark.
Still that’s the type of settle shot Tatum has long been criticized for launching, particularly late in games, and even more so when he’d had so much success getting into the paint all game long. But if your superstar is on this kind of heater you trust him and live with the results. Tatum gets paid to make tough shots, and you won’t find three tougher ones to close out a game against the defending champs than these.
Tatum was not the only one with late-game heroics on Friday night. In Texas, Amen Thompson came up clutch against Victor Wembanyama, to send the Spurs to an 0-2 start.
Amen Thompson erases Wemby
In the nightcap of the national TV doubleheader, the Spurs and Rockets came down to the wire and it was Thompson making one of the most unbelievable defensive plays you will ever see to lift Houston to a 2-0 start to the year.
The Rockets played through Alperen Sengun in crunch time. He delivered six points in a little over a minute and Kevin Durant hit a huge 3. Still, the Spurs stayed in the fight and had the ball on a side out with five seconds to go and a chance to tie the game.
Mitch Johnson drew up a slick play to get Wembanyama sealing for an entry pass, which he caught nearly at the restricted circle and turned straight for the rim. At 7-foot-4 with cartoonish reach, it looked like a sure dunk before Amen Thompson rose up, met Wemby above the rim, and denied the shot to seal the win for Houston.
Are you kidding? Thompson, at 6-foot-7, is a lot shorter than Wembanyama. To get off the ground that quickly, from a standstill position, and still get that high with enough force left to turn a human skyscraper’s shot away at its peak is one of the most jaw-dropping displays of athleticism you will ever see.
You have to take a look at all the angles of this play. I mean, good grief.
I know we’re still in the first week of the season, but that might legitimately hold up as the defensive play of the year.
Cam Boozer closes out Warriors
Golden State looked to have this one all but sealed with a 106-94 lead with 3:47 to play. They got outscored 14-0 over the next three minutes and change, with the game-winning bucket coming from rookie Cameron Boozer with 20 ticks to play. Boozer got the ball at the top with a size advantage on Brandin Podziemski, and he went straight to work by muscling him into the paint, spinning right and shooting over the top.
Boozer was sensational in his second professional game. He scored six of those last 14 closing points for the Grizzlies and finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and a pair of steals. He made four of his seven 3-pointers and was a +12 for the game after finishing at +32 in his debut.
Do the math, and the Grizzlies, now 2-0, have outscored their opponents by 44 points over 70 minutes with Boozer in the floor so far. If you’re looking for your early Rookie of the Year favorite, he’s it.
Also, shout out to Ty Jerome, a one-time G-League player who is your current NBA scoring leader at 36.5 per game to start the year. Jerome, who played a season with the Warriors and was good for them before he really broke out in Cleveland, put 28 on Golden State after hanging 45 on the Jazz to open the season.
