Jayson Tatum Doesn't Believe Celtics Are 'Panicking' Amid Recent Slump

Boston has looked uncharacteristically mortal of late.

Dec 25, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) lines up for a dunk against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images / Eric Canha-Imagn Images

The mighty Boston Celtics have looked uncharacteristically mortal of late.

Boston has gone just 3-4 across its last seven contests, including dropping two straight games for the first time all year.

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The reigning champs have fallen to a still-great 22-8 record on the year, solid enough for the Eastern Conference's No. 2 overall seed.

“We’ve got to be better,” Tatum said postgame, per Brian Robb of Masslive.com. “It’s still a long season. Nobody’s panicking. We’ve got to navigate the emotional roller coaster of the NBA season. It feels a lot worse than it actually is. We’re not panicking or anything. We’ve just got to man up and look in the mirror and figure out some things that we’ve got to do better at.”

In the team's latest defeat, a 118-114 home disappointment against the 11-17 Philadelphia 76ers on Christmas Day, Tatum was Boston's top scorer. The veteran forward notched 32 points on 11-of-20 shooting splits (4-of-8 from long range) and 6-of-7 shooting from the foul line. He also led Boston in rebounding, with 15 boards, while chipping in four dimes, one steal and a block.

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With Jrue Holiday out, head coach Joe Mazzulla opted to get big with his starting five on Christmas, elevating seventh man Al Horford to a power forward role and moving Tatum to small forward. Horford scored 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting (5-of-10 from long range), while bulking up the club's frontcourt next to 7-foot-3 starting center Kristaps Porzingis. All-Star Boston shooting guard Jaylen Brown scored 23 points on 10-of-23 shooting from the floor (3-of-6 from beyond the arc), grabbed seven boards, passed for four assists, and swiped two steals. All-Defensive guard Derrick White chipped in 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field (5-of-10 from 3-point land), four assists and three rebounds. Reserve center Luke Kornet grabbed 10 rebounds.

Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla also noticed the club's erratic production, and called it out postgame.

Read More: Joe Mazzulla Discusses Celtics 'Inconsistent' Play and Effort Over Past Few Weeks

The Celtics' next opportunity to turn things around arrives on Friday, with a TD Garden tilt against the 15-15 Indiana Pacers, the East's eighth seed. The Pacers, unfortunately for a Boston, are one of the league's hottest teams. Along with the 26-4 Cleveland Cavaliers and 20-10 New York Knicks, Indiana is riding high on a five-game win streak. T

he Pacers do still have a sub-.500 road record, 7-11, on the 2024-25 season, while the Celtics are 11-5 at home.

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