Jayson Tatum erupts in third quarter after being challenge by Joe Mazzulla
BOSTON -- Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum got off to a slow start in the team's 103-8 win over the Miami Heat on Monday night, and drew the ire from head coach Joe Mazzulla for some lackluster defense just ahead of halftime. Tatum took the criticism to heart and exploded for a 20-point third quarter, leading Boston to a blowout win in Miami.
Tatum was ice cold in the first half against the Heat. He missed all five of his shots in the first quarter, including four from downtown, and his only points of the opening frame came at the free-throw line. Miami led by six after the opening frame.
Tatum had seven points off 3-of-5 shooting (going 1-of-2 from deep) as the Celtics outscored the Heat, 34-19, in the second quarter. But he had Mazzulla barking at him from the sideline to close out the half.
Mazzulla was furious as the Celtics let Miami close the first half on a 7-0 run, trimming Boston's lead to just nine points. Tatum was squarely in his crosshairs for some poor execution on both ends of the floor.
Tatum jacked up a three with 37 seconds left in the half and 12 seconds left on the shot clock, when he probably should have let a few more seconds tick off. That gave Miami a two-for-one opportunity to close out the half.
Davion Mitchell scored for Miami with 29 seconds left, and Tatum missed a layup with 10 seconds remaining. After that miss, Tatum made a half-hearted attempt to steal the ball from Bam Adebayo and then didn't make much of an effort to get back on defense. Mazzulla furiously clapped his hands at Tatum to get back on defense, while Adebayo went down and banked in a three at the buzzer to make it a 52-43 game.
Mazzulla unloaded on his team in the locker room, with Tatum drawing most of the fury. With fellow All-Star Jaylen Brown missing the game with swelling in his right knee, Tatum knew he had to be much better for Boston in the second half.
"A lot of that was my fault," Tatum said of the team's lackluster play at the end of the first half. "I put us in some tough positions. He was just kind of letting me know that at halftime. I took it on the chin and just responded in the second half."
Respond he did.
Jayson Tatum erupts for Celtics in third quarter
Tatum didn't score until nearly four minutes into the third quarter, but then didn't stop the rest of the way. He played all 12 minutes and dropped 20 points, outscoring the entire Heat team (16 points) in the frame. It turned the game into a 23-point blowout for Boston.
"I just didn't have much of an imprint on the game as I normally do in the first half, so it was just kind of time for me to wake up in the second half," Tatum said after the win.
Tatum broke out his full bag of tricks in the third. He had it going from deep and with his mid-range game, shooting 8-of-11 overall and 3-of-5 from downtown in the frame. He easily took advantage of any mismatch and punished any defensive switch that Miami threw his way.
Tatum finished off his scoring surge in the third with a beautiful driving layup that got him to the charity stripe, pushing Boston's lead to 20 points.
He finished with a game-high 33 points, with 24 of those points coming after halftime. Tatum scored at least 30 points for the 21st time, which is the third-most in the NBA this season.
The Celtics have now won two straight and six of their last seven games, with Tatum really starting to find his stroke. He's hit 50 percent (26-of-42) of his shots over his last two games, totaling 77 points in wins over the Knicks and the Heat.
"He's playing really well," Mazzulla said of Tatum after the win. "He's in a groove, he's creating for himself, and creating for others. To me, it's when he's locked in defensively I enjoy giving him the freedom to play more. So he's getting more minutes, but he's doing the right thing at both ends of the floor, especially defensively."
