Now that the Boston Celtics have lost the NBA Finals, many fans are talking about what went wrong.
In reality, Boston tried their best but they just didn’t have what it took to defeat the time-tested, intimidating Golden State Warriors.
However, many people are saying that Boston’s Jayson Tatum figuratively and literally dropped the ball during the Finals.
Sure enough, he didn’t look like his regular self during the pivotal final games.
Yeah, he had 100 turnovers in this year's playoffs, but he also dished out league-high 148 assists, averaging 6.2 dimes per game. Only Rondo (x3), DJ (x2) and Bird had more in one postseason in Celtics history.
Here are some of Jayson Tatum's best dimes from 2022 NBA Playoffs: pic.twitter.com/uOma5qQGNK
— Tomek Kordylewski (@Timi_093) June 22, 2022
However, some fans are coming to Tatum’s defense and showing that he actually did help out his team in some major ways.
It is being pointed out Tatum had a league-high 148 assists, delivering 6.2 assists per game.
Only a few NBA players have done better than that with assists in the postseason, meaning that Tatum wasn’t as much a mess as some people claim.
Sure, he had room for improvement but that could be said for many NBA icons during the Finals.
Dishing Out Dimes
Even Tatum will admit that he didn’t play as well as he should have.
But that’s the problem with playing against the best team in the league and one of the most powerful, proven squads in league history.
The Warriors are experts at exposing the weaknesses of their opponents.
While Tatum wasn’t shooting like he normally does and had a lot of turnovers, he was still adding a lot to this team.
Still, the Finals are the biggest stage in the NBA and sometimes a player or team needs more experience before they’re ready to take it to the next level.
With his first Finals appearance under his belt, Tatum might be in even better form next time his Celtics go all the way.
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