‘So Be It’: Jayson Tatum’s Focus Was Never MVP Case That’s Likely Closed: Although the Celtics were defeated by the reigning champions by a razor-thin margin, Jayson Tatum contributed 15 points, eight assists, and five turnovers to the team’s performance.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is led by the Boston Celtics and the Denver Nuggets. Despite the fact that this does not ensure that they will face each other in June, these two teams are clearly the best in the league.
The heavyweight slugfest that took place at Ball Arena on Thursday night provided further evidence of this.
Among the top six players in the Association, Boston has the most gifted players. In the regular-season encounters between the two teams, however, Denver’s championship experience and the fact that they had the best player in the world have been more important than that.
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‘So Be It’: Jayson Tatum’s Focus Was Never MVP Case That’s Likely Closed
These contests have been intense; they have featured a level of intensity that is comparable to that of the playoffs, and they have required both teams to overcome challenges from beyond the arc. The Nuggets were able to complete the task successfully in both instances.
After a 20-0 start on their parquet this season, they delivered the Celtics their first loss at TD Garden with a 102-100 victory. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray combined for 69 points and 14 assists in the victory, which allowed them to hand the Celtics their first loss at TD Garden.
- A total of 66 points were scored in the paint by the hosts on Thursday, which was 12 more than Boston’s total.
- The latter committed 12 turnovers, which resulted in 19 fast-break points and directly led to Denver scoring 16 points off of those turnovers.
- In addition, there was a lack of skill to find out how to stop Nikola Jokic from scoring and from facilitating at the same time.
- A total of 32 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists, and two steals were recorded by the two-time Most Valuable Player.
- “His ability to get the ball in the paint, and with the shooting and the spacing that they have, and the offensive rebounding presence that (Aaron) Gordon brings, it puts you in a bind in a close game as to what you’re willing to give up,” said Joe Mazzulla, the head coach of the Celtics, after his team’s loss to the Celtics by a score of 115-109, as captured by NBC Sports Boston.
- Putting Jrue Holiday on the five-time All-NBA player was one of the changes the guests made to deal with him. The member of the All-Defensive First Team twice did a great job against Jokic.
- In the last frame, Boston gave up 20 points in the paint, and the Nuggets made just 0/5 shots from beyond the line and turned the ball over four times.
- It kept the Celtics in the game that they held the home team to 25 points in the fourth quarter.
- The three-time All-Star scored 41 points and grabbed 14 boards, which were both game highs. Besides that, he had four assists and two steals.
- Even though playing with a sacroiliac strain made him work harder and do better, making only 7 of 14 free throws was a big mistake.
- Boston made 16 out of 25 shots (64%), while Denver made 21 out of 22 foul shots (95.5%). It shows that the Nuggets made the plays that the Celtics didn’t, even if it was something as easy as making a basket at the free throw line.
- The fact that Gordon caused so much damage from the dunker spot makes things harder for the latter to fix when they play this team in June. That includes doing it on a put-back slam with 2:06 left to make the hosts’ lead 109–102.
Holiday stepped up to greet Jokic as Denver’s star centre spun into the paint, making it almost certain that his team would win this regular season series. Jayson Tatum was caught staring at the ball and didn’t turn to look at Gordon. The 6-foot-8 forward made a smooth alley-oop, giving the Nuggets a 113-109 lead with 19.1 seconds left.
After making just 5 of 13 shots, the five-time All-Star ended with 15 points. He also had eight assists, but turned the ball over five times and made the costly defensive mistake we just talked about.
The score was 111–109 with 1:08 left in the game after an 11–4 run that included back-to-back threes by Holiday and a steal by Brown. Tatum then threw a bad lob pass to Brown.
The two-time All-NBA First Team pick ended up with an open three-pointer in the right corner, so it looked like things might go Boston’s way. His shot hit the rim, though, and went into Jokic’s arms.
Tatum had a bad night, and he probably thought that that was the end of his chances of becoming MVP.
“I’m not trying to make it about myself,” Tatum said when Jared Weiss of The Athletic asked him about his chances of being MVP after the game.
“We talk about giving each other space and following the rules of the game.” It’s not my job to take over the game and make it about me, and it’s a public TV game. The other guys were doing well. So if I need to be in the corner or a guide sometimes, so be it.”
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