Jayson Tatum With First Awful Shooting Night of the Season

Jayson Tatum has to bounce back from his worst shooting night of the season against the Bulls

Jayson Tatum came into this season with some expectations on offense for the Boston Celtics. He was supposed to be polished, and ready to have an impact scoring. What he has done so far this season has completely shattered any realistic expectation on the offensive end. He has the highest three point percentage in the NBA, is efficient in every single spot, and does even better in clutch situations.

He is setting an offensive standard that maybe no other rookie has ever reached. He has the efficiency to approach a 50/50/90 season, and it feels like Brad Stevens still has not discovered every way for him to have his impact on offense.

His consistency has been unmatched, because he has only had phenomenal to decent shooting games. He was never a liability as a shooter at any point, until the worst loss of the season against the Chicago Bulls.

This is the first time of the season that Tatum dipped below 20 percent from the field, and one of the very few times he failed to hit a three pointer. This was also the first time he took more than three three pointers, and failed to hit one.

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He was an actual liability on that end this this one, and that is probably the only time you could say that this season. He had one game where he shot 2-7, but that was at least in a win. This was a game where the Celtics needed Tatum to step up the scoring with Kyrie Irving out, and he was not able to respond.

There is no real reason to be worried. It is impossible to shoot well every game, and this one outlier actually highlights the absurd consistency he’s had this season. The volume still has a lot of room to grow, and that could make his efficiency suffer, but he has six games shooting over 60 percent, with just three under 40 percent.

The outliers truly are these poor shooting games, and there is still no reason to question if he can handle more volume. At this point, that is going to be the key to Tatum’s impact this season. We already know how good he can be in this limited offensive role, and we know he can play the defense to stay on the court.

Finding that ideal balance between volume and efficiency is the last big question mark for Tatum this season, and while it is awful to see him go just 1-7 from the field, he has already proven he is too good to not bounce back, and keep up his unparalleled three point shooting this season.

Tatum is developing into the second most important scorer on this team, and the worst thing would be to see him take a step back because of this one game. He needs to get right back into the rhythm he’s had all season long, and then he will continue to work towards building up his volume, and expanding his potential on defense.

Tatum has also shown the poise and mentality to make this a non factor. Stevens has too much trust in him to let this change how he is used in any way. The Celtics clearly need Tatum to be shooting well for their offense to be at their best.

Tatum has been putting up unsustainable numbers all season long, and this is one of the very few times when it has looked like this numbers will inevitably come back down to earth. The reality, however, is that Tatum has a big lead and is in a great position to lead the league in three point shooting, and if he can finish off more of these incredible opportunities he creates in the paint, he will have no problem staying above 50 percent from the field.

Next: Celtics Can't Let Bulls Hurt Difficult Stretch

Tatum has been and will continue to be one of the most fascinating players to watch on the Celtics, and this only adds to the intrigue. Tatum has done every single thing that has been needed of him, and now it is time to bounce back from his worst shooting game of the season.

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