[Film Room] What's at the Root of Jayson Tatum's Struggles vs. Warriors on Saturday?

In the Celtics' loss to the Warriors, Jayson Tatum turned in one of his worst games of the season; here's why and how he can remedy that.

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In Saturday's NBA Finals rematch, the Celtics looked like the younger child who's not ready to triumph over their older sibling.

In their first meeting since watching the Warriors celebrate an NBA championship on the TD Garden parquet, Golden State dictated terms as Boston played with the processing speed of a dial-up computer. The Celtics didn't just fail to keep up mentally; the hosts were the more physical team and played with greater urgency.

One could argue the Warriors needed a win more than the visitors. Boston still has the best record in the NBA, while the former is 14-13 and eighth in the Western Conference standings.

But the season's still young, the trade deadline's a couple of months away, and Golden State knows when it needs to be at its best.

This author doesn't forecast Saturday's loss knocking the Celtics off stride, but a win would've done more for their psyche than the damage of Golden State falling a game below .500 27 tilts into the season.

Boston's primary problem was an abysmal showing defensively. The Warriors repeatedly capitalized on Blake Griffin and Luke Kornet defending pick-and-rolls in deep drops. 

And while the Celtics had more success with Grant Williams at the five, they still afforded Stephen Curry far too many opportunities to step into clean long-range looks while operating as the pick-and-roll ball handler. And they struggled to stay attached to the Splash Brothers as they came flying off screens away from the ball.

Klay Thompson scored 34 points, a game-high, while Curry registered 32 on 12/21 shooting, burying 6/11 threes.

If Boston has Robert Williams, whose season debut is fast-approaching, and Al Horford when these two teams meet again on Jan. 19, its pick-and-roll coverage figures to look dramatically better. Along with their impact defensively, their presence should cut down on Golden State's second-chance points after they generated 21 on 11 offensive rebounds on Saturday.

Still, there was a lack of physicality and attention to detail for which the Celtics should not let themselves off the hook. That doesn't mean hanging their heads and feeling sorry for themselves; it means doing a better job with what they can control, starting Monday against the Clippers when they'll face the tandem of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George for only the second time.

And while Boston's defense was more of an issue than its offense on Saturday, the team producing the most points per game and operating at a historic pace finished with 107 points, which is fewer than what the team scoring the least, Monday's opposition, average.

At the center of those struggles was Jayson Tatum turning in one of his worst games this season. He finished with 18 points on 6/21 (28.6 percent) shooting, going 2/9 (22.2 percent) from beyond the arc.

From an efficiency standpoint, Tatum's shot selection was excellent. He took nine threes, as mentioned above, and the rest of his twelve attempts were at the rim.

In the first quarter, four of Tatum's six shots were layups. Three of his five field goal attempts were at the cylinder in the second frame. Two of his five were in the third, and three of his four fourth-quarter tries were at the basket. 

But there was almost always someone there to challenge him and affect his shot.

When Tatum came off the screen from Griffin, he could've used a jump-stop to set himself up for a two-footed floater in the middle of the paint. Or he could have gone up off two feet, first going into Kevon Looney, so he's likely to at least get to the free-throw line. 

In trying to go by Looney instead of playing with more control or force, he ends up with a makeable but difficult layup taken from a tough angle. 

In the play below, Tatum gives the ball up and replaces Malcolm Brogdon in the near-side corner. When the Celtics' star gets it back, Anthony Lamb shades him toward the baseline. Boston's MVP candidate accepts the challenge, then steers into Lamb's chest, getting into the paint, elevating off two feet, and finishing off the glass. 

These are the type of forceful finishes Tatum needed more of on Saturday, doing more to assert himself on the drive and going up with greater control. 

It also would have been beneficial for him to have more sequences where he gave up the ball, stayed active, got it back, then made whatever the correct read was. It likely would've led to more success at the rim.

Tatum only committed two of the Celtics' ten turnovers, but in this next play, he should be trying -- and able -- to get into the middle of the paint. Once there, he can utilize his height advantage to finish over Donte DiVincenzo at the basket. 

He also could swing the ball to Derrick White for a corner three, but when trying to knife through DiVincenzo and Draymond Green with a euro-step, he exposes the ball, and Green knocks it out, then recovers the loose change.

Speaking of a missed opportunity to create for a teammate, with it not being his night scoring-wise, Tatum, who's been so effective facilitating, but had only two assists Saturday, could've shifted priorities while taking a backseat to Jaylen Brown. 

The other half of the Celtics' star wing duo generated a team-high 31 points, producing 16 in the first half and 15 in the second. 

That's easier said than done when you're the team's best player and taking good shots, mostly at the rim, but when it's not your night, it's not your night.

And while Tatum's wisely taken a page out of Curry's playbook this season, screening to create relatively easy opportunities for him and his teammates, in this game, it represented a tool mostly left on the table.

After Boston's 123-107 loss, Brown acknowledged, "We played this game like we had it circled almost in a sense for a long time instead of just playing our game."

As bad an experience as Saturday night was for the Celtics, this team's better than last season and doesn't have Robert Williams yet. They should use getting punched in the mouth by the defending champions to sharpen them.

As Brown stated post-game: "It’s not a great feeling losing in this building, so all of us feel like we’re taking it a little harder than we probably should, but we bounce back. Get ready for the next one. We can’t let one game determine the outcome of the rest of this season."

There's no reason to let this loss undo what Boston's built in the first 27 games this season as it works towards redemption and banner 18.

Further Reading

Former Celtics Fan-Favorite Reportedly Available via Trade, Should Boston Make Move?

Here are Three Prop Bets to Consider Ahead of Monday's Celtics-Clippers Matchup

Here's What Stood Out in Celtics' Loss vs. Warriors: Boston Punked by Defending Champs in NBA Finals Rematch

Here's Where Celtics Star Jayson Tatum Landed on NBA.com's Latest MVP Ladder

Here's What Stood Out in the Celtics' Win vs. Suns: Dominant Defensive Performance Paves Way to Blowout Victory