Everything Jayson Tatum Did Well Last Night
Detailing Tatum's performance vs. Philadelphia on Opening Night
Jayson Tatum opened the 2022-23 season with his most perfect game to date. It wasn’t his highest scoring, nor his most memorable performance, but he flourished in nearly every aspect en route to 35 points. Prior weaknesses disappeared for a night, and new developments seemingly emerged from the dust as we witnessed the dawn of a potential MVP campaign. Let’s revisit last night’s show:
Mid-Range Game
In my previous piece, I talked about one thing each Celtic needs to do this season for Boston to fulfill their potential. I said Tatum needs to thrive in the mid-range, and that’s exactly what he did last night. He shot 5-for-6 on these looks, with his makes hitting nothing but the bottom of the net. He even swished a beautiful floater out of the pick-and-roll, a completely new addition to his arsenal. If Tatum can continue to produce from the mid-range, it’s gonna be real difficult for defenses to stop him from putting the ball in the basket.
Driving
Tatum is speedier than ever. A slightly lower driving posture plus some shed bulk have caused his first step to quicken and his acceleration to increase. This is all while retaining the strength he’s built up over the years. He’s now capable of slashing with both speed and power, or both at once. As a result, he shot 6-of-7 at the rim yesterday and got to the free-throw line 9 times. This stunning athletic growth may be the catalyst for Tatum’s next leap.
Pushing the Pace
In my last piece, I also emphasized the need for Boston to play faster and placed the onus on Marcus Smart to take the lead in doing so. Tatum took care of it in the season opener, however. He gunned for defensive rebounds to then get the ball moving down the court, especially in the second half. As I mentioned earlier, this is the speediest I’ve ever seen him, and that was on full display when handling in transition. While always looking for his own, he kept making the correct decisions and got the rock to teammates at the right time in the right place. The shots didn’t always fall, but the opportunities were consistently good, which is all that can be asked for at this moment. The Celtics offense was humming last night and will continue to as long as they prioritize running the ‘break.
Help Defense
Tatum has been one of the better defensive players in the league for a while now. He solidified his status as an elite on-ball defender during his postseason run a season ago, and he’s been one of the league’s best off-ball defenders for quite some time. Last night’s performance contained all of this, and a lot more. Tatum spent most of the night guarding Tucker or Harden—vastly different players in most regards. Philadelphia mostly shied away from going at Tatum at all, but he did a very good job guarding Harden at the point-of-attack when needed, showing off some improved screen navigation. However, his primary goal was to do what he does best: play help defense. Tucker and Harden are both similar in that their catch-and-shoot threes likely won’t hurt you much. Despite being one of the best off-the-dribble shot-makers ever, Harden is a very hesitant shooter off-the-catch, and Tucker is a pretty shaky, low-volume, shooter. While they were spotting up, Tatum was able to sag off of them and seep into the gaps, where he used his overwhelming wingspan, quick hands, and pristine timing to rack up deflections. He’d also completely leave his man to bring help on Embiid in the post. He ended up repeatedly stifling the 7-footer’s post-ups with well-timed help, which led to multiple turnovers. If last night was any indication of what’s to come, a two-way season for the history books could be on the horizon for #0 in Boston.