The Boston Celtics have a doozy of a matchup on their hands tonight, facing off with a red-hot Detroit Pistons team on the road for the second half of a back-to-back, having beaten the Raptors in Toronto last night. If they’re struggling through some tired legs from the travel and quick turnaround between games, though, you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at Jayson Tatum. Boston’s superstar forward has 12 first quarter points, and put Detroit’s franchise player, Cade Cunningham, on the wrong end of a highlight play late in the first quarter.
This is a very satisfying highlight, in this writer’s personal opinion. It’s always immensely satisfying to watch a shooter shake their man off the dribble. Cunningham is doing his best here — and Tatum miiight have mixed in a little contact with his left arm — but the change of direction is just too sharp, and he absolutely went flying. He manages to make it out of the frame for just a moment (thanks to some friendly cropping from the video editor) and when we see him again, he’s all the way down near the restricted area. The play understandably seemed to energize Tatum and the Boston offense, as well, at least for a moment. He followed it with a smooth mid-range jumper and another three-pointer, keying a run that guided the Celtics to their first lead of the game.
The Celtics will need more, though. Despite the game-high scoring total, it was a bit of a mixed bag for Tatum in the first. He was credited with four turnovers, contributing to a late Pistons run that helped them build a nine-point edge heading into the second. With Jaylen Brown sidelined due to a left thigh contusion, the Celtics need more plays like the above from Tatum tonight, and fewer of the uncharacteristic turnovers. They trail Detroit by 15 as of this writing, 43-28 with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half.
