Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla took issue on the recent ugly narrative that the media is trying to push on his superstar Jayson Tatum.
While the Celtics are thriving and Tatum is leading the way, some couldn’t help but find the flaws in his performance. Mazzulla has had enough of it and decided to speak out.
Boston Celtics Head Coach Joe Mazzulla Defends Jayson Tatum
On Monday against the Portland Trail Blazers, Tatum starred for the Celtics and dropped 26 points along with five rebounds and eight assists. With Tatum making life hard for Portland, Boston went on to take the 121-99 victory.
While speaking to reporters postgame, however, Mazzulla was asked about Tatum “struggling” during the game. After all, while he scored 26, the five-time All-Star needed 23 shots and made just nine of those attempts.
Mazzulla didn’t like the line of questioning and had a strong response, noting that when Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey dropped 32 points on them on 24 shot attempts during their recent meeting, the narrative was the Celtics couldn’t stop him. But when it’s Tatum, he was struggling.
For what it’s worth, in the game that Mazzulla mentioned, the Celtics beat the 76ers 117-99.
“(Tatum) had 26, 8 and 5. Maxey did that and you said we couldn’t stop him. Just making sure. He had 30 points on 28 shots and you were like why couldn’t we stop him? It’s the same exact situation. I think he’s playing really good basketball. It just looks different. He had at least I saw five potential assists tonight…he’s being patient, he’s understanding where the game is coming from,” Mazzulla fired back, via Bobby Manning of CLNS.
“Tonight he handled a little more in pick and roll and I thought he made some good plays. He missed a couple easy baskets at the rim, but I think the whole looking like he’s struggling, you can talk yourself into those things and I think people are so used to seeing him dominate in a different way, but we have a different team this year with different expectations. The most valuable thing a guy like him can do is do what the game needs and do what the team needs, and also be able to be yourself which he’s done for us.”
Sure enough, Mazzulla makes a good point. It’s unfair to use a standard that uplifts another player but discredits Tatum. For Mazzulla, the 26-year-old did what he needed to do, and that’s all what matters to him.
Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics Destroy Portland Trail Blazers
While Jayson Tatum didn’t shoot well against the Portland Trail Blazers, to Joe Mazzulla’s point, he was impactful in everything that he did. Tatum was actually a +16 in the plus-minus box score, only behind Sam Hauser. That speaks volumes of how great he was in the game.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics in scoring with 27 points, while adding six rebounds and five assists. Hauser, for his part, had 22 on an efficient 6-of-10 shooting from deep.
Portland simply had no answer for the trio, with Deandre Ayton the only Blazer breaching the 20-point mark with his 22 points and 15 boards.
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