"It's Jayson Tatum's time": Stephen A. Smith doubles down on bullish NBA Finals prediction

It has been a long 82-game road for Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics this season, but the 2024 NBA Playoffs have finally arrived. Interestingly, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith appeared on Bloomberg Originals with Aaron Rodriguez to share his reasoning for picking the Celtics to win the championship in this year's NBA Finals.

Looking at the landscape of the league this season, Boston boasts the best record in the NBA due to how dominant and consistent they have been, led by Jayson Tatum.

Smith discussed the matter on "The Deal," and argued that the five-time NBA All-Star is on pace to deliver the Celtics' 18th banner in their historic resume.

"I'm still going to say the Boston Celtics," Smith said. " I have no reason to feel this way, but it's Jayson Tatum's time. I think it's going to be Boston-Denver. I think Boston is going to win the championship."

There are several teams in the postseason this year who all have something to say about that. Tatum and the Celtics are all aware of how last year's Eastern Conference Finals went down with the Miami Heat, especially as they are set for a first-round meeting with the team that previously sent them home packing.

Jayson Tatum discusses Celtics not taking homecourt advantage for granted in NBA Playoffs

With how last year's playoff home record (5-6) went down, Jayson Tatum talked about entering this year's postseason with a different mentality. He said their homecourt advantage should be protected and not be taken for granted, as per NBC Sports Boston.

"I think not take it for granted," Tatum said. "Where I think in the past, we just felt like coming back home we had the advantage and you know, we supposed to win and maybe relax a little bit. You know, necessarily, probably take the opposite approach that maybe out backs are against the wall when we come home, have some better outcomes."

Playing at home is obviously an advantage for any NBA team, but you have to turn up to win in the playoffs.

This season, the Boston Celtics' home record is 37-4, where they have shown growth and consistency compared to last year's 32-9 record. They were able to clinch a complete homecourt advantage back on April 3, 2024, when the Celtics defeated the OKC Thunder by a score of 135-100. It also marked the team's 60th win of the season.

Aside from newly added pieces like Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday making tremendous impacts on the team, Jayson Tatum's production has made this Celtics unit a juggernaut.

In the 74 games he's played this season, Tatum averaged 26.9 points (47.1% shooting, including 37.6% from 3-point range), 8.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists.