The Boston Celtics suffered a shocking 105-108 defeat to the New York Knicks in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Despite scoring 23 points, Tatum shot an inefficient 30.4% from the field and 26.7% from the 3-point range, committing team high five turnovers.
NBA analyst Jay Williams has not refrained from rating Tatum’s game and questioned his leadership and decision-making capabilities at key moments.
“Jason Tatum is the best player on this team, and that’s his team, and that’s his responsibility when it comes to half court decisions,” Williams said.
“He’s an elite passerby of that ability. And I think what I saw last night, especially in the fourth quarter, was a very poor shot choice, not just from the entire team, but from Jason Tatum in particular.”
The Celtics as a unit shot 35.1% miserable from the field and even worse 25% beyond the arc, continuing their shooting fights from Game 1.
Williams also referenced Tatum’s previous challenges and added context to the pressure on the Celtic Star.
“There’s a lot of stuff for him this year, especially considering how he won last year’s championship. And since he has multiple DNPs from US basketball and Steve Kerr, whatever you want to put behind it, that was it,” explained Williams.
In stark contrast to Boston’s offensive anguish, the Knicks implemented a much more effective game plan. They shot 45.9% with three pointers, connecting from multiple players deep, bringing it to three of a total of 17.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst did not write any words about Boston’s collapse. “There’s no excuse for the Celtics to blow this game away, but there’s no excuse for how they did it.
As the series shifts venues, the Celtics will have to deal with the shooting struggle and decision-making if they want to regain control over their confident Knicks team.