Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has been criticized the last couple days for his performance through two games in the Eastern Conference semifinals versus the New York Knicks.
And the criticism is mostly fair. Tatum has not played to his superstar standard in this series, and it’s one of the reasons why the Knicks have a surprising 2-0 lead.
Tatum has scored a total of 36 points on 12-for-42 shooting (5-for-20 on 3-pointers) with eight turnovers in two games. He’s also shooting 1-for-12 (0-for-7 from 3-point range) in the fourth quarter. Tatum knows he must be better.
“I take full ownership for the way that I’ve played in this series,” Tatum told reporters at a press conference Thursday. “Can’t sugarcoat anything. I need to be better. And I expect to be a lot better.”
The good news for the Celtics is that the chances of Tatum bouncing back with a stellar Game 3 are pretty good. The reason for that is recent history.
Simply put: When Tatum is under pressure and the Celtics have their backs against the wall, he has delivered more often than not, especially on the road. He has eight 30-point road games since the start of the 2023 postseason.
In the first round against the Orlando Magic, Tatum scored 37 points with 14 rebounds in a Game 4 win that gave the Celtics a 3-1 series lead. Tatum scored 16 points in the fourth quarter.
It was one of many great Tatum games on the road when his team really needed it.
The best example was probably Game 6 of the 2022 conference semifinals against the Milwaukee Bucks. Tatum scored 46 points with nine rebounds in Milwaukee to save the C’s from elimination. Boston won the series in Game 7.
He did something similar a year later in Game 6 of the conference semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers with 16 points in the fourth quarter to save Boston from elimination. The C’s won the series in Game 7.
During last season’s run to an NBA championship, Tatum averaged 27 points, 10 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game on the road in the postseason. In the 2023 playoffs, Tatum put up 26.4 points, 11.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game on the road. In the 2022 playoffs, Tatum scored 27.1 points per game away from home.
Tatum’s stellar play away from TD Garden is one of the primary reasons why the Celtics have a 22-9 road playoff record since the beginning of 2022. It’s the best road playoff record of any team during that time. And if the Celtics are going to overcome this 0-2 deficit and eliminate the Knicks, they have to win at least two games on the road.
The Celtics have won four consecutive games at Madison Square Garden and five of their last six in New York since the start of the 2022-23 campaign. Tatum scored 40 points against the Knicks in a 27-point win on Feb. 8. He scored 32 points and hit some clutch shots in the overtime win on April 8.
Tatum’s record on the road in big playoff games speaks for itself. That’s why Celtics fans should feel confident going into Game 3. This is the type of scenario where Tatum often steps up and gives the Celtics a great performance when they absolutely need it.
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