The boston celtics are two losses away from being eliminated in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals by the Miami Heat and need big performances from their superstar Jayson Tatum to avoid it.
Unfortunately, Boston’s highest paid player has not managed to appear in the last quarter of the first two games of the series against Miami and coach Joe Mazzulla hasn’t found a solution.
Tatum led his team in points, assists and rebounds in the second game of the series, but his drought in the fourth quarter seems to have no end. Tatum’s +/- in this set was -13, second only to Jaylen Brown at -14.
The small forward attempted three shots, all three-pointers, but missed.. The five points recorded in the quarter were added from the free throw line after fouls by Gabe Vincent and Bam Adebayo.
In Game 1 the situation was sadder since the four-time All-Star did not try even a shot. However, Tatum made all six of his free throws. His total contribution in the period was a defensive rebound, along with three turnovers and a foul.
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Tatum’s losses kill the Celtics
The Celtics’ losses have sentenced the development of the first two games of the series. In the last quarter of the second game they committed four turnovers and two of them were from Tatum; in the first engagement Boston’s 0 committed three of the six turnovers.
The fourth quarter of Game 2 began with a poor pass from Tatum that ended up outside the TD Garden court. Then, with 1:38 on the clock, committed an offensive foul thanks to excellent defensive positioning by Jimmy Butler.
In the first of the series, Tatum committed steps on two occasions when remaining 1:57 left in the fourth quarter. Also, Butler stole a pass from the Celtics forward.
