Boston Celtics: Cs can’t find rhythm in loss to Atlanta Hawks

Boston Celtics takeaway No. 2) Tatum shines, but is this version here to stay?

It has been a tumultuous season for Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum, to say the very least.

He has struggled for the majority of the games, and it has been quite worrisome for fans.

Before tonight, Tatum averaged just 23.5 points per game on 38 percent shooting from the field, 31 percent shooting from deep, and 76 percent shooting from the line. These splits are extremely uncharacteristic of a star who has been nothing short of superb for the better part of the last three years.

He has still been contributing defensively, having his best defensive season since 2019-20, and is still making solid reads out of doubles, but we all know what Tatum does best.

The goal was to have him scoring at an all-league level, AND add other aspects of the game to his arsenal.

However, Wednesday night he was on fire.

He finished the game with 34 points on 12-23 shooting from the field, including five made triples whilst going 5-6 from the stripe.

They lost and he got a lackluster amount of touches to end the game, but it was a welcome sight to see the Tatum we all know.

Lots of speculation has occurred as of late, as to why Tatum was struggling.

Slow starter, new role, poor game-planning, too many post touches, bad spacing, put on too much muscle… everything in the book has been pulled out to try to explain this oddly horrific stretch of shooting.

Personally, I think it is a combination of things. He is a notoriously slow starter, but nearly a month in I’d have liked to see a bit more of an up-curve.

Realistically, he is being asked to play differently than he has before. He is getting a career number of post-touches, while his pick-and-roll possessions have been nearly cut in half.

Lots of talk about his newfound muscle led to gameplan for more of a “bully-ball” style of play.

To be quite honest, that just isn’t him.

We have seen how effective high pick-and-rolls have been for Tatum. Get him a screen about 3-4 feet behind the top of the arc and get him on some downhill motion.

This has led to more open pull-up treys, better looks in the midrange, and better looks at the rim.

But not only that, it leads to more eyes drawn to Tatum which leads to open shooters around him.

I don’t exactly think the Boston Celtics were playing to Tatum’s “strengths” but are rather playing to his literal strength.

All that needs to be found is a balance: the right amount of catch-and-shoot attempts, off-the-dribble creating, post-ups, drives, and playmaking.

It will all come together, but I think it would help if Tatum had some help around him, which brings us to the third and final takeaway…