For Boston Celtics star small forward Jayson Tatum, one slump ends and another begins after the Duke product finally got to the free throw line for the first time in the 2020-21 season in the Celtics’ 108 – 107 loss to the Indiana Pacers, having gone the team’s first two games without getting to the line even once, an NBA record for players scoring at least 20 points.
Tatum got to the charity stripe twice Sunday evening, converting all four shots he was awarded. But where he found success there, he found a tough shooting night elsewhere. The Missouri native went 9-of-21 overall from the floor to shoot just under 43% overall, and 3-of-9 from beyond the arc for a suboptimal performance from the fourth-year player.
More drives to the basket might serve Tatum and his team better moving forward, especially in situations like we saw at the end of the game, where the former Blue Devil tried to replicate his game-winner against the Milwaukee Bucks, but failed.
“That was on me,” he would say about the missed 3 after the contest, aware of that fact he could have gone for a layup to tie the game instead, with fouls on the table to bail him out. “I should have put more pressure on the defense.”
Even with the missed trey and the loss, Sunday night’s performance was far from a terrible outing overall for Tatum. The 22-year-old forward also pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds, dished 5 assists and blocked a shot for good measure.
