As He Proved Against The Miami Heat, Jayson Tatum Always Bounces Back After Poor Games

Tatum has been dynamic following below average performances.

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum did not have his usual superstar performance in Game 1 against the Golden State Warriors. 

While he did set an NBA-record 13 assists, Tatum was 3 of 17 from the field for 12 points. However, Celtics fans should be happy for Tatum’s bounce back game.

Tatum has not had back-to-back subpar games this postseason. After a loss, the Celtics star has averaged 31.5 points, eight rebounds, and 5.5 assists. Against the Miami Heat, Tatum shot less than 50 percent from the field in Games 1, 3, and 5. Following these matchups, Tatum averaged 29.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists. Tatum shot 60.9 percent in these games.

Tatum spoke about his performance despite the big win.

“I had a bad shooting night,” Tatum said. “But 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 is trying to get a win, and we did. That’s all that matters at this point. I don’t expect to shoot that bad again, but if it means we keep winning, I’ll take it.”

Even though Tatum didn’t score efficiently, the team was able to rally around their star player, outscoring Golden State 40-16 in the fourth quarter. Al Horford had 26 points, Derrick White had 21 off the bench, Jaylen Brown had 24, and Marcus Smart had 18. The team shot 51.2 percent from the arc, as Smart’s late three-pointers put the dagger in the Warriors.

This result should give Celtics fans optimism. Steph Curry had 34 points, while Tatum only had 12. Despite the scoring difference between the star players, Boston still came out with a huge victory on the road. Boston was able to sustain despite Curry’s big night and Tatum’s below average performance.

The Celtics will play the Warriors in Game 2 on Sunday at 8:00 p.m. EST.

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.