SAN FRANCISCO — Jayson Tatum started the fourth quarter trying to shoot himself out of a slump and the Celtics out of a hole.
He missed a floater to open the final frame and then back-rimmed a 22-foot jumper with Boston still trailing by double digits. But as his Celtics teammates got hot from the outside, Tatum was plenty happy to stop shooting and focus on just getting them the ball.
Tatum had just 12 points in the game and scored none of Boston’s 40 in the fourth quarter of its 120-108 victory. But he atoned for 14 missed shots (3-for-17) with 13 assists in the victory.
Sometimes when Tatum’s scoring numbers are down, it’s the result of him being passive. This time he was aggressively selective down the stretch. His four fourth-quarter assists led to 11 points. Tatum said he was plenty happy not scoring if it led to winning.
“Ecstatic. 40 points in the fourth quarter? J.B. (Jaylen) played big. Al (Horford), Payton (Pritchard), (Derrick) D-White. Those guys made big shots, timely shots as well. And we won,” he said. “I had a bad shooting night. I just tried to impact the game in other ways. We’re in the championship. We’re in the Finals. All I was worried about was trying to get a win, and we did. That’s all that matters at this point. So I don’t expect to shoot that bad again. But if it means we keep winning, I’ll take it.”
Ime Udoka was proud of him.
“I’ve talked to him at length about impacting the game when he’s not having his best offensive night. So he did that tonight. Obviously going 3-17, that’s usually not going to happen,” Udoka said. “What he did well and did early was get others involved. Seven of nine assists pretty early in the game, finished with 13, and the shots not falling, he still attracts a good amount of attention, made the right plays.
“I love his growth and progression in those areas,” Udoka continued. “He’s still guarding on the defensive end, still getting others involved, not pouting about his shots, and trying to play through some mistakes and physicality they were playing with him.”
Al Horford marveled at Tatum’s career progression as a passer.
“It’s such a challenge for guys like him, top players in the league that are expected to score, to play make, to defend, all those things. And Jayson does all those things,” Horford said. “His playmaking has gotten better steadily. Tonight it was just brilliant. Offensively he didn’t really get it going scoring-wise, but then he was finding guys. He was reading the defense. It just shows his growth.
“Even from earlier in the year, he just has continued to get better,” Horford said. “He’s the kind of guy that he’s going to figure it out. One way or another, he’s going to figure it out. We put a lot on him and he delivers. That’s what he does.”