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Jayson Tatum was not a happy man after the Boston Celtics 107-97 loss in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. The series is now tied at 2-2, and if the Celtics are to keep their championship hopes alive, they will have to win Game 5.
To their credit, they have not lost back-to-back games in the playoffs, which is a good sign for them. But they have also not been able to deliver two consecutive good performances.
However, Jayson Tatum believes that the team is not trying to put themselves in the situation on purpose. Speaking about the team making things harder for themselves, he said:
"We don't do this s**t on purpose. I promise you we don't. We trying as hard as we can, but we do have certain things to clean up like turnovers, obviously, movement on the offensive end.
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"We would have liked to win today and go 3-1 up. That would have been the best-case scenario, but it's the finals."
Jayson Tatum had a rather poor performance as per his standards. He scored 23 points on 8-for-23 shooting from the field. A lot was expected out of him coming into Game 4. He did look really good in the first half until Steph Curry took over.
The Warriors were down by four points with five minutes left to play. The momentum was with the Boston Celtics as they played well and had their fans cheering them on.
But all of that changed when Steph Curry took things under his control. Curry scored 43 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help the team take the win.
With the series tied at 2-2, the Boston Celtics will be heading to the Chase Center with a lot to work on.
Jayson Tatum played brilliantly in the playoffs, but he has not been firing in the NBA Finals. Tatum has been a good playmaker, but he will also have to step up his scoring for Game 5 on Monday.
Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka shares his take on Jayson Tatum's struggles
Ime Udoka has been one of the best coaches in the NBA this season. In just his first year, he has helped the Boston Celtics bounce back after a poor start and also led them to the finals. The recipe for success, however, has been his honesty and his ability to hold players accountable.
Jayson Tatum had yet another poor shooting performance, and Udoka was not pleased by what he saw from his star player. When asked about his struggles to score around the rim, he said:
"At times he is looking for fouls, well you know they are a team that loads up and you know certain games, he's finding the outlets, certain shooting over two three guys.
"That's the balance of being aggressive and picking your spots and doing what he's done in previous games, which is you know kicked it out and got White wide open look so that's the ongoing theme.
"They do a good job with their rotations, but sometimes hunting fouls instead of going to the finish, I've seen that in a few games so far."
Jayson Tatum is still a youngster, but his run in the finals has certainly taught him a lot. He has misfired against the Warriors, but his playmaking skills have been elite in the series.
A lot is on the line for the team in Game 5. Tatum will be hoping to put an end to his poor shooting spell and lead the way for the Boston Celtics to take a 3-2 lead.
