The Boston Celtics have been perhaps the most inconsistent team in the NBA playoffs.
They’ve failed to defend home-court advantage more often than not, and a lot of that has had to do with Joe Mazzulla mismanaging his timeouts and assets.
More than that, Jayson Tatum’s inconsistency has been a talking point again throughout the postseason, which obviously is another major issue for this team.
Recently, NBA analyst Jay Williams claimed that it was “disturbing” to see that Tatum only took four shots in the second half, also calling out Mazzulla for staying pat and not even calling a timeout while his team was getting completely dominated by the Heat.
.@RealJayWilliams reacts to Jayson Tatum's performance in Game 1:
"There is no way in hell he can have four shots in the second half. … That is alarming. That is disturbing, 'cause this team goes the way Jayson Tatum goes." pic.twitter.com/sJ5ugwj7da
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) May 18, 2023
Mazzulla had four timeouts when the Heat put up 46 points in the third quarter against him, yet he seemed unfazed.
That allowed the Heat to run away with the game and steal home-court advantage from the Celtics.
Mazzulla has been in the spotlight for the past couple of weeks for this very same kind of thing.
He’s let his team play it out way too often, even when it’s evident that he needs to shake things up, and that lack of experience could be quite costly for this team.
Moreover, Tatum is coming off a 51-point performance so one would expect him to stay aggressive and keep the momentum going, but that wasn’t the case.
There’s no doubt about his scoring prowess and talent, but he can’t have these drop-offs between games if the Celtics are serious about winning an NBA championship.
NEXT: Jayson Tatum Dominates An NBA Playoff List
