Jayson Tatum had a historic night in Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers. There’s no other way to put it. I know that I’ve written about him a lot lately, but he keeps showing up for the big moments. Blame him, not me. After all, he’s the one that scored 51 points in a do-or-die Game 7. Fun Fact: the NBA was founded 1946, and in the league’s long history, no one has ever scored more points in a Game 7. So there’s that. Let’s talk about how Tatum and the Celtics got it going against Philadelphia.
I’m no savant, but it looked to me that the Boston game plan was Embiid-centric. Early on, I think the Celtics wanted to involve him in as many actions as they could to tire him out. For example, with 8:55 to play in the 1st quarter, Tatum had the ball and was directing traffic. He was telling star teammate Jaylen Brown to slide into the corner, and called for Al Horford to screen the ball. Horford, savvy vet that he is, instead took advantage of an absent-minded Embiid, cut to the paint, and gave the ball to a cutting Robert Williams III for an easy dunk. Though this did not result in the match-up the Celtics were looking for, it loudly proclaimed their intentions: make the MVP prove he’s that guy. Keep that in mind.
A few possessions later, Tatum got the ball at the top of the key. Marcus Smart set a screen for him that, from the comfort of my unprofessional athlete couch, Tobias Harris did not seem to fight through much. Tyrese Maxey blitzed Tatum on the switch, opting to be close and physical. It worked on that particular possession, as the Celtics turned the ball over, but premeditated Tatum-on-Maxey violence showed itself pretty early. The next possession, the Celtics hunted Maxey again. Well, kinda. The Celtics ran a Spain pick set. Williams III screened for Tatum, and he received a rip screen from Smart. Embiid, head on a swivel, sniffed out the play and eliminated the lob that it was designed to generate. However, Smart being the second screener gave Tatum another option: pick on the feisty but smaller Maxey. With a head of steam, Tatum was able to draw a foul. The offense was seemingly doing what it was designed to do.
But the real standout moment from the game’s opening quarter occurred a few minutes later. At about 5:40 remaining in the quarter, Tatum got the ball on a post up about 15 feet from the basket. After making some moves, he decided to fire an awkward one-footed jumper over Harris and the shot went in perfectly. To me, that was the moment that Tatum knew he was going to have himself a game. He had a good first half overall, but I really want to talk about his 17 point 3rd quarter because I believe that was what sealed Philly’s fate.
It didn’t take much action after halftime to see some of the cracks in Philly’s will. Less than two minutes into the 3rd, PJ Tucker and Joel Embiid had a horrendous miscommunication on defense. Judging by Tucker’s face, it’s safe to say that he was upset with the MVP. That emotion made sense, as the miscommunication allowed Williams III to run to the rim with Maxey trailing. Either Marcus Smart didn’t see the lob opportunity or he thought the Celtics could get a better look. Regardless, Philly lucked out with that… until a Smart/Tatum screen forced Embiid to guard Tatum with the shot clock winding down. Tatum took advantage of the matchup and got to the rim almost effortlessly. His first two points of the quarter.
I think the next possession was my favorite offense sequence from Boston in the game. 9:25 on the clock, Brown brought the ball up the left sideline after a Philly miss. Then Tatum got to work, and showed his hoops IQ in the process. He pointed to Williams III at the right elbow. Brown got the ball there, and Williams III was able to hand it off to a streaking Tatum. He then had another opportunity to go at Embiid, albeit with less space in which to work. He must have known that, too, as he decided to pull the ball back out to the left corner. But he was not going to let Embiid off the hook that easily. This was the matchup that JT wanted and he was going to let the 76ers know it. He got to the corner, hit Embiid with a beautiful crossover-hesi-side step from deep that tingled the twine with six seconds left on the shot clock.
Next possession, he got the Embiid matchup for the third time in a row. Immediately, he hit Embiid with a one dribble stepback from 25 feet. Swish. At that point, Tatum was feeling himself, and he wanted everyone in Boston to know as he screamed to the heavens at half court after the shot dropped. The make created a 10 point lead, but more crucially, it created energy, and Boston fed off that energy on both ends of the floor. Tatum targeted Embiid, the 2023 NBA Most Valuable Player for the FOURTH time in a row and was able to get to the free throw line. He hit both of them, too. Philly’s desperation became apparent and the players were trying to get something going. They played a zone coverage that allowed Tatum to shoot a wide open three with about 6:17 left in the 3rd quarter. At that point, Philly was deflated. They never recovered. The Celtics went on a 21-3 run over the course of 6:35 of game time. It proved too much to overcome.
Every Celtic that saw the floor played really well. At the very least, they played well enough to win. But Tatum took the game over early and decided that he was just going to stay in the driver’s seat. I think the Sixers had a real chance to show some mental toughness but they just couldn’t pull through. The front office is going to face some tough decisions in the off season. It’s extra tough because they knew Game 6 was their best opportunity to send Boston packing. Coulda, shoulda, woulda, I suppose.
Tatum had a historic night, and while all of his buckets are probably worth revisiting, I think the 3rd quarter was the most special slice of the game. He hunted match-ups and took a variety of different shots. More impressively, it felt like he was hitting all of them. I think knowing Miami is the team waiting for them fueled his performance. Though many fans foolishly spout such drivel as “The Bubble wasn’t real basketball!” all Jayson Tatum knows is the reality of the pain he felt from that bubble in Orlando. To me, it seems like he isn’t going to let Miami get the better of him this time. But hey, we’ll see. At the very least, we are going to see some heart pumping hoops in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Full Court Dime 