In the first two games of the NBA Finals, the Celtics’ best scorer didn’t score.
At least, not by his usual All-NBA standards.
Jayson Tatum tallied just 34 total points across Games 1 and 2 against the Dallas Mavericks. He shot 31.6% from the field and 28.6% from 3-point range. He missed layups and bricked open threes. It was, at times, ugly, and had to be frustrating for Boston’s oft-scrutinized marquee player.
Yet the Celtics won both games, rolling to an 18-point victory in the opener and then gutting out a 105-98 result Sunday night to take a 2-0 series lead. And Tatum, despite his shooting woes, has found other ways to boost his team.
With Dallas regularly throwing multiple defenders his way, Tatum has morphed into a high-end facilitator in these Finals, content to kick passes out to open teammates rather than force shots through traffic. He hasn’t stopped shooting — he led all Celtics players in field-goal attempts in each of the first two games — but he’s averaging 13.5 potential assists per game, per NBA tracking, the most of any player on either team and nearly five more than his regular-season average (8.9).
Tatum dished out 12 assists in Game 2, one shy of his playoff career high. Boston scored 27 points off those helpers, including 13 by Jrue Holiday. Tatum consistently found the veteran guard with room to operate under the basket, assisting on six of the latter’s 11 made baskets.
Holiday was the best player on the floor Sunday, scoring 26 points (11-for-14) with 11 rebounds, three assists, one steal, one block and zero turnovers.
“Every time I’d take a couple dribbles, there was, like, three people were right there,” Tatum said. “We’ve got a bunch of shooters on our team and guys that can space the floor. They kept leaving Jrue open. So it wasn’t like I had to do anything spectacular. It was just about finding the open guy.”
Head coach Joe Mazzulla said Tatum “did a tremendous job doing what the game called for.”
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“Jayson makes greatness look easy,” Mazzulla said. “He does it in a lot of different ways. He does it on defense, he does it on rebounding, he does it on passing, he does it on screening. He's a tremendous player, and (it’s) not hard to coach him. When he has the ability to affect the game in different ways, we're a different team.”
Would Tatum like to be dropping 40 in these games? Surely. Especially after Mavericks coach Jason Kidd’s naked attempt to get under the Celtics star’s skin by saying Jaylen Brown actually is Boston’s best player. (Brown also tied his own postseason career high Sunday with seven assists.)
But he’d much rather score 18 points (on 6-of-22 shooting, including 1-of-7 from three) in a win than 45 in a loss, especially with the Celtics now so close to the championship that eluded them on this stage two years ago.
“It has a lot to do with that l've been here before and we didn't win,” Tatum said. “It’s just like, you know, we're so close to what we're trying to accomplish, why would I let my ego or my need to score all the points get in the way of that?
“There are going to be times where I need to score, and obviously, I need to shoot better — golly. But really, we always talk about ‘do whatever it takes for however long it takes.’
“If I need to have 16 potential assists every single night and that's what puts us in the best position to win, and it doesn't mean I'm the leading scorer, by all means. If that gives us the best chance to win, sign me up.”
Tatum’s unselfishness and trust in his loaded supporting cast have been vital to the Celtics' success in this series. And history suggests he has another quality scoring night in him. Tatum, who led Boston in points, assists and rebounds over the first three playoff rounds, has not scored fewer than 20 points in three consecutive games since January 2020.
