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As much as it seemed like the Celtics season ended as soon as Jayson Tatum was carried off the court, there’s still at least one game left to play. We’re about to get a taste of what life is going to be for the next year (or so) without him.
Tatum’s game 4 was a reminder of just how important he is to this team. It wasn’t just the 42 points. It was also the 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks, and generally being right where he was needed. He was Roy Kent (He’s here, he’s there, he’s everywhere”). He’s not a perfect player, but he’s right up there in the top 4 or 5 best players in the entire league. And now for the foreseeable future, he’s gone.
Detractors of Tatum like to point out that he has a “superteam” around him. People who enjoy MVP race debates (which always bore me) love to get into long philosophical debates over “What would happen if you just take this player off that really good team?” Well, grab your popcorn folks, because that scenario is about to play out in Game 5.
I have some thoughts and predictions.
We’ll get a preview of what a team led by Jaylen Brown would look like. Sure, Tatum has missed the occasional game here and there. Most recently in game 2 of the first round. Noa point out that Brown stepped up bigtime in that win.
Jayson Tatum was sidelined for one game against the Orlando Magic while dealing with a right wrist bone bruise, and Brown was instrumental in the win, tallying 36 points on 12-19 shooting, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists.
We’ll have to see how Brown fares against the Knicks tonight. He’s been slowed by nagging injuries, so it might not be completely fair to judge. But (barring a huge trade) he’s going to be the featured guy next season. He’s going to need to really focus on his playmaking and decision making process. He can’t get tunnel vision for entire quarters anymore.
Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
My guess is that Brown will put together a nice box score, if only because he’ll get a lot of touches, which can get you into a rhythm. He’s also a gamer who never shies away from a challenge. But he’s not equipped to do all the little things that Tatum can do. And there’s the trickle-down effect as well. If Brown is playing the Tatum role, who’s stepping up into Brown’s shot diet?
The obvious answer is more Derrick White. He’s the next best creator and I’m never mad at giving him more touches. But he goes from being a release valve and extra wave attacker to being a primary option. We’re also going to need to see a lot more touches go to Payton Pritchard (which might have been a good option earlier in the series).
I predict that there could be an increase in ball movement, at least early on. As great as Tatum is at making the right basketball plays, he sometimes goes into Mamba-mode at the expense of moving the ball around and bending the defense. With that said, sometimes moments in the playoffs boil down to finding the right matchup and exploiting it, and nobody on this team can do that as well as Tatum.
Not a prediction, but I hope we see a spirited effort from Porzingis. He’s the wildcard option you need in situations like this but thus far in these playoffs he’s been limited at best. If he can’t be effective, we have to lean even more heavily on Al Horford (again).
It will be interesting to see who picks up some of the rotation minutes. It might just be more minutes for the rotation guys. Does Baylor Scheierman make an appearance? Do we get some spot minutes from Torrey Craig? Perhaps a Queta appearance?
It isn’t hard to imagine the Celtics playing inspired ball and winning the game at the Garden tonight. If Brown is cooking, the ball is moving, White and Pritchard are bombing away from 3, and Jrue leads the way to an inspired defensive effort, we could certainly steal a game.
Regardless, it will be a very interesting game, defined more by a player not playing in it than the guys on the court. Something we’ll all unfortunately have to get used to.
