Celtics won G2 without any danger. Tatum's performance on the scoring end was still not eye-catching enough. He made 6 of 22 shots, 1 of 7 three-pointers, and only scored 18 points.
But he also had 9 rebounds and 12 assists. He spared no effort in attacking, switching defenses, and assisting defense. His plus-minus +13 data is the key to driving the team.
On the court, the Celtics play from five outside and need open three-point opportunities to score a lot of points. So Tatum and Brown held the ball in the pick-and-roll and named Doncic, Irving, Kleber, Gafford/Lively. They caught one accurately and basically passed it in one step. The ball led to an open three-point sweep. The explosive containment power of
's double pick led to 5 players in the team scoring in double figures, and all 8 players scored in rotation. The vast space provided by the two five-out lineups made the game too easy.
On the defensive end, Tatum faced the fifth position every time he was in position. Except for two back-ups by Gafford at the beginning of the third quarter, the real insiders basically did not take advantage of him at other times. . And his presence also directly blocked the 1-5 pick-and-roll that Mavericks was proud of all the way out of the West.
Offense, trying to attract double teams to drive teammates, defense, everywhere, this is the true cornerstone of the Celtics.
You may blame him for not being as good as Doncic in scoring and not being able to influence the game as well as Doncic in terms of game perception, but that is not a big problem, because only for the current Celtics configuration, Tatum is definitely better than Doncic. Doncic is easy to use.
The reason is very simple. The two of them are not playing the same kind of basketball at all. Compared with the offensive end that 77 is best at, super individual blasting ability, and dazzling diagonal passes, Kai The Celtics need Tatum's "engineering" style of play to fill in any gaps and not occupy the ball. The style of play not only allows Holiday and White to have room to play freely, but also allows the old Horford and the more fragile Platinum inside to have less consumption on the defensive end.
Even if Doncic's offense is invincible, his sticky ball attributes and off-ball weaknesses will also bring new problems. If he swaps with Tatum, the stickiness of the ball will further weaken the sense of participation of the role players in the game. On nights when White, Holiday and others feel disconnected, they may completely become spectators on the court. The weakness of not having the ball will If the defense is switched, the flanking attack will be delayed.
Tatum's versatile attributes on the defensive end are even more difficult to replace. Although the Celtics lineup is very deep, Tatum's reserves at this position are precisely the weakest. His characteristics of size, frame protection, assist defense and switching defense make him indispensable in the team.
Of course, some people can say that Tatum's engineering style of play is because he does not have the ability to hold the ball, the core, and the offensive ability of those super attackers. This is also true.
In the past few seasons, Tatum has misfired at critical moments more than once, and failed to make any progress in the final offensive confrontation, which shows that he does not have the scoring ability of Kobe and Durant at their peak. This is related to his static talent. His core strength is not strong enough, his waist and legs are not thick enough, and his first step is not fast enough. But Tatum’s biggest advantage is that his passing and offense are second only to the top. Not only that, but his defense and adaptability are much better than most superstars. So for so many years, he has indeed been improving his various abilities in compliance with the team's requirements every year.
The team does not have an inside line at the 4th position, and he must be big enough to top it; reducing singles and shooting more three-pointers is to save energy. Make sure you have to defend against the inside for 40 minutes in every game, because Tatum's defense ability is stronger than Brown's and his coverage is larger.
So far in the playoffs, Tatum's total plus-minus value is as high as +162, ranking first among all players. In addition, Tatum's average plus-minus per game so far in the playoffs is as high as 10.4 times, also ranking first in the league.
Compared with the next Kobe Bryant that fans expected when he first entered the league, he is more like living his life as the next Garnett. His own data does not matter, as long as the team wins.
Compared with the traditional superstar narrative, Tatum and the Green Army told a story with completely different logic. There are no super giants descending to earth, no great men changing their fates against the will of heaven. They just have leaders who are humble, low-key, and willing to do everything that is excluded from the highlight reel. Then the whole team stays calm and clear-headed, and plays the basketball they think is right.
