3 Boston Celtics players that must step up with Jayson Tatum out

The already decimated roster of the Boston Celtics has managed to get even more ravaged as it was recently announced that the team will be without All-Star cornerstone, Jayson Tatum, for Monday’s outing against the Minnesota Timberwolves as he enters the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocols.

With this, due to the guidelines, Tatum will now be forced to miss a minimum of 10 days of basketball activity as he isolates which, in turn, will likely have him out of the rotation for the next seven games.

As a result, those players that remain available will have to take on more of a role within the C’s scheme in the wake of this latest news, and we at HH believe 3 players, in particular, will need to step up to give Boston a fighting chance moving through this upcoming string of games:

Boston Celtics player No. 1) Joe Johnson

The Boston Celtics opted to sign veteran Joe Johnson last week amidst the COVID-19 outbreak that managed to take its toll on the squad.

Quite frankly, upon the news of the pickup, we at HH were rather enthusiastic about the decision by Brad Stevens and co., for, at the end of the day, it brought the team a much-needed experienced presence at the wing to help back up the likes of Tatum and Brown as well as a seasoned leader that could potentially help the Cs stay level-headed during this already challenging campaign.

Now, with guys like Aaron Nesmith, Josh Richardson, and one half of the Jays sidelined it’s without question that Ime Udoka will look to utilize their veteran pick-up during these trying times and, quite frankly, they could certainly use for the efficient scoring expertise that managed to make him a seven-time All-Star throughout his 18-year NBA career.

A career 16 point-per-game scorer, during his recent stint in the Big-3 league Johnson saw himself posting 22.8 points a night on 44 percent shooting from the floor with the Triplets and, while he only scored two points thus far in his return to Eastern Massachusetts, on his lone attempt he showed off that vintage iso-Joe ball-handling skills and shooting stroke that made him one of the most dangerous scorers in the game during his prime.

While no one should expect him to tap back into his 25-year-old self, perhaps he can still manage to put forth the level of production that he did during his second to last season in the league whilst with the Utah Jazz when he became a top-flight reserve player, putting up 9.2 points on an efficient 41 percent shooting from deep.

Should he be able to do this, while he’s most certainly no Jayson Tatum, it could absolutely prove to be a major bonus for the team during his absence.