Boston Celtics: 3 keys to victory over the Raptors in game-one
By Mark Nilon
Boston Celtics key to victory No. 1) Make early offense easy for Jayson Tatum
It’s no secret that many believe that the Boston Celtics will go as far as Jayson Tatum will lead them during the 2019-20 NBA postseason. Frankly, that’s typically how things go in regard to a team and their best player.
So far in the playoffs, when Tatum has been “locked-in”, the Cs seem virtually unstoppable.
Averaging 27 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.3 blocks a game on 49 percent shooting from the field and 45 percent shooting from deep, it would appear that the 22-year-old All-Star was a consistent revelation for Boston during their round-one series against the Philadelphia 76ers.
And while this assumption is correct for the most part, there was a time during the quarterfinals where Tatum seemed to struggle and, in turn, so did the Celtics.
After setting record-high scoring outings in both games one and two, the wing followed up in game three with an offensive stinker.
Seemingly tired right out of the gates after his two previous masterful performances, Tatum only managed to put up 15 points on 32 percent shooting from the floor, 22 percent shooting from deep, and picked up three of his four fouls in the first quarter.
By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, Tatum’s legs appeared to be super worn from all the isolation ball he had been playing of late, and he even barely managed to graze the rim on one of his final layup attempts.
Luckily, however, the Boston Celtics scrapped away with an ugly victory and, in the followup game, put Philly to rest thanks in large to Tatum’s 28 points.
Round-two possesses a different challenge for the shamrocks, as they’ll be going up against a tougher foe in the Toronto Raptors and, with this, will need all of their fire-power to last them all four quarters.
A way to keep Tatum’s legs rested — relatively, at least — heading into crunch time in game-one will be to have him in fewer isolation sets and place him in more catch-and-shoot & pick-and-roll opportunities and having him playing off help screens to find easier ways of buy buckets.