![]() "I think he's put himself in the conversation as being one of the best players in the league. "It's been unbelievable," Pritchard said. Payton Pritchard talks to Sky Sports presenter Jaydee Dyer ahead of Game 6ĭespite his failure to reach his highest level on the biggest stage of them all, at least so far, Celtics backup guard Payton Pritchard – speaking exclusively to Sky Sports – resolutely believes Tatum is one of the best players in basketball, based on his regular season and postseason output in 2021-22. Boston then needed seven games to beat Milwaukee in the second round, including a road win in Game 6, and seven against Miami in the Eastern Conference finals capped by a Game 7 road win. The Celtics have had to ride Tatum hard this postseason after sweeping Brooklyn in the first round. Some of that fatigue and decision-making could a part in the fourth quarter." The bench production wasn't as sharp as usual, so we ran Jayson longer. When he got it going in the third, we rolled him a little bit longer there. Obviously, him playing 44 minutes, he was one of our main guys rolling. "Part of that could be fatigue," coach Ime Udoka said. The loss, the first time in the postseason that the Celtics had lost consecutive games, mirrored the 107-97 defeat in Game 4 when the Celtics shot 30.8 per cent in the final quarter, with Tatum missing four of five shots in both games and missing two free throws on Monday night. Highlights of the clash between the Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of the NBA Finals He is going to have to improve in the clutch to give the Celtics a chance. ![]() With Wiggins taking the bulk of the responsibility of guarding Tatum, the 24-year-old is shooting 5-for-21 in the fourth quarter of the Finals. His scoring run included 13 in the first half, and he also helped drive the Celtics forward during a furious third-quarter run, in which they drilled an NBA Finals-record eight consecutive 3-pointers as a team. Game 5: Alongside Game 3, Tatum's Game 5 was also impressive as he scored a game-high 27 points with 10 rebounds for an impressive double-double, only this time the Celtics lost. Other than that, he was decent from a personal point of view: 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, and he was a net-positive during his minutes despite the Celtics losing by a 10-point margin. He's had 95 in the postseason, which is the most since 1977-78 (when that statistic was first tracked). ![]() Game 4: Turnovers have blighted Tatum throughout the NBA Playoffs and the six committed in Game 4 comprised his worst tally for any single game of this series. Tatum, who was looking to strike a balance between scoring and playmaking as well as his defense – after showing flashes of all three in the opening two games on the road – found the sweet spot in Game 3 with 26 points to go with nine assists, and a plus-minus of plus-13. They became the first trio since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Cooper and Magic Johnson in 1984 to each record 20 points, five rebounds and five assists together in an NBA Finals game. ![]() He didn't top-score for his team, that honour went to Jaylen Brown on a night that the other 'Jay', along with Tatum and Marcus Smart, made some history. Game 3: One of Tatum's best two performances in the series. Individual scoring counts for nothing if your team gets decimated while you're playing. The Dubs eventually took victory by a 19-point margin, but Tatum was minus-36 for his minutes on the floor, definitely the most telling stat from Game 2. He scored 28 points and shot 6-for-9 beyond the arc, but when the Celtics' outside shooting went cold in the third quarter, the Warriors turned a close game into a rout. Game 2: Tatum's own scoring bounced back in Game 2. On the plus side, he excelled as a facilitator, dishing out 13 assists, with just two turnovers as the Celtics rode a huge fourth quarter to stun the Warriors in San Francisco. Game 1: Tatum really struggled with his shooting, finishing with 12 points going 3-for-17 from the field. Ups and downs of Tatum's NBA Finals so far Tatum watched Kobe clips before being crowned East MVP ![]() Williams: The double-meaning behind 'Time Lord' nickname Tatum: Leading Celtics to 18th title 'would mean everything' ![]()
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