Jayson Tatum had a horrendous game 6 performance. Memes and tweets abounded as Tatum entered the 4th quarter with only three points on 13 shot attempts. It would be an understatement to say that he was having a rough go of it. The guy bricked everything from layups to spot-ups. It was tough to watch.
Entering the 4th quarter, the 76ers were up 73-71. I’m sure Tatum could feel the weight of expectation bearing down on him. He’s the man, after all. On their first possession, Tatum got himself going by forcing a foul from Tobias Harris. He’s able to hit both of his free throws as the whole of Celtics nation prayed for a miracle to keep their season alive. Those prayers were probably replaced with some less-than-holy alternatives when Tatum missed a left handed hook. In the paint. Again.
On the next possession, the Celtics ran the same play that sent Tatum to the line. But there was something different about it. The 6’2 De’Anthony Melton was guarding Tatum (who is 6’9). Immediately, Tatum made his intentions clear as he started backing Melton down. Like a good teammate, instead of forcing a shot over two defenders, Tatum made the right decision with a kick out to Marcus Smart. Smart was then able to draw a foul of his own, but keen eyed viewers would have seen Tatum’s role in the rest of the play. He simply hung around in the paint. If not for the whistle, his emphatic putback dunk would have brought the Celtic bench to its feet. Smart hit a free throw, 76ers star and league MVP Joel Embiid scored easily on the other end. Tatum time again.
He denied a screen from Al Horford and was able to get to his left hand. His gravity drew three 76ers into the paint, two of whom were draped all over him.If not for bricks disguised as hands on the part of Robert Williams III (all jokes big fella, I love you), that possession would have ended in a high quality shot close to the basket as Tatum was able to find Williams as open in the paint as the NBA gets.
A few possessions later at roughly 8:10 left in the 4th, the Celtics ran a very similar set as the aforementioned. But instead of Tatum slipping his screening assignment to dart to the corner, he set a solid screen and forced a switch. Tobias Harris had guarded him well all night and it seemed he thought he could more easily take advantage of the smaller De’Anthony Melton. But despite the size difference, Melton held his ground. At that point, four Sixers were in the paint. It looked like a box-and-one defense. Tatum once again made the right play and fired a pass to Smart in the corner (who bricked). Now, in fairness to Philly, of the shooters on the floor at that time, Smart was the best choice to leave open. But leaving a competent shooter wide open in the corner is not a good strategy for success in the NBA. Nevertheless, play continued.
At 6:37 remaining, Tatum found himself alone on a fastbreak with James Harden and made the wise decision to test the former MVP. Tatum forced the contact and again went to the line. He hit both of his free throws. 81-79 Celtics. But the inevitable hoops foolishness crept in, and the 76ers were the beneficiaries. Embiid answered those free throws with a bucket of his own (a smooth elbow jumper, by the way). A Celtics take foul put Embiid on the line where he sank both attempts. 5:25 remaining, 83-81 Philly. ESPN then flaunted Tatum’s suboptimal performance with a graphic that detailed his scoring woes. At that point, he had seven points and was 1-14 from the field. Philly fans were licking their chops in anticipation. They had to have been. They knew that their team and their MVP could smell blood, and they were going to close this thing out at home. But the Celtics had other plans.
NBA.com defines “clutch time” as the final five minutes of a game in which the score is within five points. This was as textbook for clutch time as it gets. At 4:17, Tatum got the ball in the corner with Embiid on him. Without even the slightest hesitation, Tatum let it fly. 84-83 Celtics. Embiid then barely rimmed out a mid-range jumper of his own from the nail. Next possession, the Celtics got a favorable matchup. As they brought the ball down the court, Georges Niang went to pick up Brogdon in the corner. Tyrese Maxey called for a switch, presumably to leave the 6’7 Niang in a position to help in the paint (there was also no way he was going to stop Brogdon if he chose to take the ball to the hoop himself). So Maxey was the P&R defender. When Brogdon’s screen forced the switch, Maxey had to handle Tatum himself. However, given Tatum’s rough shooting night, it appeared as if the Celtic’s wanted him to get to the rim. Good spacing put Tobias Harris underneath the rim while Embiid had to split the difference on the weak side between Horford and Brogdon (neither of whom you would want to leave open for a three). The plan seemed to be to get a slower defender, James Harden, guarding Tatum, as Jaylen Brown set a screen for Tatum to draw a switch from the southpaw. But Tatum called his own number, denied the screen, and hit the shorter Maxey with a stepback that found the bottom of the net. 87-83 Celtics, 3:34 remaining.
On the other end, Boston forced a tough shot that didn’t fall. The 76ers then charged their most tenacious defender, PJ Tucker, with Tatum duty. Brogdon again was able to set a good enough screen to force a switch with Maxey. There may have been a defensive miscommunication, though. Tucker recovered hard to Tatum. Maybe Maxey was supposed to hedge and get back to Brogdon? Hard to say. Regardless, that is not what happened, and Tucker had to cover Brogdon to prevent a good shooter from getting an open look.Tatum got into the lane but was unable to finish due to some nice help defense from Harden. Moments later, 2:07 left to play, 89-84 Boston. Marcus Smart slowed down play and called out a set that saw Brown set a pin-down for Tatum on the baseline. Tatum flew up the paint to set a strong side pick for Smart while Brown got a Brogdon rip screen for a curl into the corner. Tatum’s screen for Smart on Maxey (poor guy) caused Tyrese to stumble, and that allowed Tatum to fire an uncontested three ball from the left wing. Swish. Again. 92-84 Celtics. 1:52 left in the contest. At that point, Tatum had scored 13 points in the 4th quarter on 3-5 shooting, and all of those makes came by way of 3-3 from deep (he had shot 0-6 from three up until that point). Eventually, with under a minute to play, PJ Tucker fought over screens and flew around the court to make Tatum earn everything, and it worked. For a shot. With 48 seconds left, Al Horford forced a Tucker-Embiid switch, and Tatum took the opportunity to put up another three ball in the face of the MVP. Fortunately for the Sixers, that one did not fall. But Boston came away with the rebound. The ball found Tatum again, still with Embiid as his defender, and he fired another stepback with 38 seconds left to play. Swish. Again. 95-84 Celtics. 36.6 seconds remaining.
That would be the final shot of Tatum’s 4th quarter masterpiece. You could call it a Philly meltdown, and they certainly did some things to give the game away at the end. But that would be too reductive, and honestly would not be giving Tatum enough credit. He brushed off a horrid shooting performance to come through when his team needed him most. Tonight, Boston returns home for the deciding Game 7, and they’ll need everyone on deck if they hope to pull off the win against the 76ers. Regardless of the outcome, fans are in for a treat, and I personally hope it is a game full of more 4th quarter heroics.
Full Court Dime 