In Game 2, Celtics don’t need Tatum the shooter — they need Tatum the bully

Jayson Tatum’s exceptional play across four regular season matchups was obviously a major storyline entering the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

How could it not? In every matchup, Tatum exposed major flaws in New York’s defensive personnel, particularly in its reliance on Karl Anthony-Towns as a drop big that Tatum effortlessly exposed time and time again through his pull-up shooting and tight handle on the drive.

In those four games, Tatum averaged 33.5 points on 53% efficiency with extremely high volume (21 FGA). 11.5 of those shots came from the 3-point line, which is the third most for Tatum among all the teams he’s faced this season. Efficiency-wise, he connected on 48% of those threes, which is the second-highest perimeter efficiency he’s had against a team this year, only behind his two-game sample versus the Kings.

So, of course, the initial idea is that this is the series where the obvious path forward is to let Tatum the Shooter operate.

And in Game 1, that was what we saw, but for the first time this season, those results greatly favored New York. Tatum shot 27% from three on 15 attempts, and went 1/9 from the field and 0/5 from three in the fourth quarter and overtime, which played a part in Boston’s historically bad 3-point shooting performance.

This game obviously isn’t all on Tatum, as much as hate-mongering X accounts that jumped at the chance to post his shooting lines might lead you to believe, but Tatum ultimately settled far too often, and it played a role in the offense’s stagnant finish.

Tatum the Shooter can win this team games, but in Game 2, I think we need him to be an interior bully.

As CelticsBlog’s own Azad Rosay pointed out, the Knicks opted to give Tatum pick-and-roll switches rather than the drop coverage looks he picked apart in the regular season. That, in theory, still favors Tatum if he’s gifted the heavy-footed KAT or Mitchell Robinson, but the bigger issue was less in the matchups he got and more in the decisions he made.

Boston’s possession with under 30 seconds to go is a great embodiment of Tatum’s Game 1 shot-selection. With a chance to take back the lead in spite of all their poor shooting, Tatum gets the favorable Robinson switch with shooters on both wings and corners, and a paint that’s devoid of bodies. This is the time for Tatum to put his head down and drive. Instead it’s a step-back three that bails out Robinson, bounces off the back of the rim, and gives New York its own opportunity to win the game.

“I could’ve put more pressure on the rim,” Tatum said. “But a lot of times, we felt like we got really, really good looks and just couldn’t convert.”

Along with the switch, New York also decided to hedge Tatum’s screens, which he made them pay for on two possessions in the third quarter. Those hard shows also led to some pullup shots that would’ve been better off turning into an extra pass, like this 3-point try with under two minutes left in the fourth quarter.

A swing to Jaylen Brown gives him plenty of room to operate, either for another open shot or a drive with a layoff option in Al Horford.

We know what Tatum can do to this defense as a shooter, regardless of how they play him, and it will without a doubt be a crucial element to Boston winning games in this series, but I’d like to see Tatum the Driver take center stage in Game 2.

If New York continues to give up switches to force Tatum into 1v1 action, that means a slower on-ball assignment, and more paint-collapsing reliance from New York’s off-ball defenders. That also means more kick out options and more chances at contact at the rim.

Free throws and open shots. When you’re an All-NBA talent like Tatum, that gravity as a driver has to be respected.

The open shots the kickouts provide need to be made, and Boston certainly had their fair share of open looks in Game 1 (they shot 14/56 on 3-pointers classified as “open” or “wide open”) but Tatum’s ability to attack the paint is extremely valuable in a series that features a team with a starting center that isn’t a skilled rim protector.

And when the Knicks do put in a true rim protector in Robinson, he’s either forced to defend in space, or is simply hacked to get off the floor. This is the time for Tatum to create paint touches. If the Knicks are trusting their bigs to defend the perimeter with help behind them, then Tatum has to make them pay.

“There’s a lot of shots we want certain guys taking, and I felt like we got some good looks,” Tatum said. “Obviously in hindsight, if we could go back, we’d probably drive the ball a bit more, because we missed a lot of shots tonight.”

Even on a night where he took 15 threes, Tatum still found ways to set up scoring chances for others. His six assists are right in line with his season average, and his 17 potential assists go far above his current playoff average of 11 per night, which closely reflects his 11.6 average in the regular season.

None of Boston’s core players seem particularly worried after Game 1. I think for the most part, the process to creating good looks was there before the wheels fell off later in the fourth quarter.

If New York plays them the exact same way, I don’t think Joe Mazzulla or the Celtics necessarily hate that. But when it comes to Boston’s primary creator, I’d want to see Tatum’s best impression of a battering ram in Game 2. It just so happens that this battering ram has the passing vision to create for others.