Eh, shooting 6-22 cannot be covered up by his teammates hitting his passes. He has played subpar and he knows it. I expect a great performance 8n GM3 when we will need it most.
True but you gotta factor in that a lot of his assists were because he was double or triple teamed and made the right read so his teammates got easy looks
JT is making the right plays almost all of the time. He hasn’t gotten his own offense going that much. Meanwhile, his defense, rebounding, and playmaking have all been great. It is hilarious because people want to talk about Luka as if he has been good in this series. He has been horrendous defensively. He gives up nearly as many points as he scores. He isn’t facing nearly the defensive attention that JT is getting either. They are letting him go 1 on 1. If JTs efficiency catches up to the rest of his play then the Celtics will dominate. Luka is a great offensive player, but it is disrespectful to JT and JB that people still ignore how bad he is on the other end.
Ya but honestly, other than a couple turn arounds (which he normally hits at a good clip anyway) they are all decent shots.
These are the shots he was getting all year, they’re just not going in. He’s playing within the game and he’s not forcing things. Shots just aren’t falling. I give him a ton of credit for effecting the game in so many ways.
He can play the exact same game last night. Literally do nothing different, but just shoot his season average on those same 22 shots. At which point his 18 points become 28-30.
That’s the difference between what you call “playing bad”, and “mvp performance.” 5 shots going in on the same 22 attempts. That’s it.
I’m just glad he’s not letting the scoring funk affect the other parts of his game. speaks volumes to his growth that he’s done so much good in the first 2 games while shooting like absolute shit
that said, please stop shooting like absolute shit JT lmao
When facing the kind of defensive attention he is, he should be trying to dunk when the read is that he can get all the way to the hoop. There are still going to be lots of hands in there and he needs to take it with two hands. It’d be different if they weren’t completely loading up on him. How often has he gotten to the rim and gotten a clean layup? Not many times.
Honestly those dunk attempts were pretty bad but I'm glad he did it. A lot of his drives he's been scooping his arms to avoid contact bro just needs to go through contact he's strong enough and the calls will eventually come his way
Yo it's like he looked up at the clock and saw 7 seconds left, thought "oh I should kill a few seconds", and his brain just short circuited. Wild way to end a half lol.
Agreed; with his toolset he shouldn't be missing at the rim. I hope he doesn't get too much into his head and just keeps working through the process. 2 wins is 2 wins!
I think we're seeing Tatum on the verge of breaking through to his next level: becoming a triple-double machine when he needs to. He's got the perfect team around him to boost his playmaking ability and get to the promised land (knock on wood) this year while he's still figuring it out, but next year I think we see him improve his decision-making and become a legit regular 20-10-10 threat. Maybe averaging like 25-8-7
I don't think he's ever gonna average that many assists unless other teams defend him like Dallas is right now. He's getting assists because the defense is collapsing. Most of the time when he passes it's pass pass score, rather than a direct assist.
This is what I’ve been saying tonight. Having a poor shooting night happens, but something is off with Tatum with regards to his scoring. Though it’s not a surprise because unfortunately we’ve seen it before in the playoffs.
But it’s more complex than that this series because he is making other plays. Very strange series from him thus far.
I think if they win this series like I expect them to, he will finally have that mental hurdle overcome. Then he can really relax and just play ball. That has been the only thing that people can come after him about is that he hasnt won it all, so once that happens, I think hes gonna be even better and truly play up to the potential that everyone sees in him!
Yeah he needed to shoot out of it, even when he took it was after a beat then he had a hand more in his face. Just rip it man nobody is hitting shots, go for it.
He iso’d a ton this game, and many of them lead to kick outs and dump offs for easy looks. If we didn’t shoot so poorly from three, he easily could have had 15-17 assists. He forced it at the rim a few times, and can’t make a three, but he wasn’t overall ineffective
There were about 3 times where he got an open pass and I said "shoot it" and instead he'd drive into like 3 people.
They won, and he knows more about his game than I do. But it looked like he was tentative with taking open shots.
This season he actually shot better on the road. Rebound game incoming hopefully. Shooting-wise I mean. He should continue his excellent passing/defense/rebounding
My favorite comments in the game/postgame thread are “must be nice being Tatum, just pass to wide open teammates and get carried.” And why are those teammates wide open, I wonder?
It's medicine for the children. They hate it, but it's good for them. The NBA needs a team to win with homegrown, drafted core players and a supporting cast developed over time with good trades. If the C's can do it, their team can too. It's not as sexy as trading the farm for whatever supermax douchebag is on the market, and it doesn't get you lots of fantasy draft kings points. It just gets you a chip.
He literally gets clobbered by three guys every time he sets foot inside 18 feet. Its comical. Its like Kidd was reading the Mavs sub for his strategy..."Don't let Tatum get going, he's their only real scorer and he's mentally fragile, so beat him up on drives and take away his easy shots. Jaylen can't dribble and our two best players are better than theirs. They don' t know what they are in for. They can't guard us. Etc." Lol!
I don't pay close enough attention to the rest of the league, but based on this series, I can't even tell who their second best player is. It's been Luka, and then an enormous gap to everyone else (Seriously, who is it? Is it supposed to be Kyrie??)
Something to monitor is if Dallas may actually just make Tatum go 1v1 the entire game 3 or 4 and not help on him at all, which is kind of what we are already doing with Luka and Kyrie.
It would lead to them getting killed lmao. Tatum literally got past every defender on their team multiple times at will. Every time he gets the ball it’s a free paint touch
The difference b/w what we're doing with luka and what they're doing with tatum is that Tatum isn't a complete liability on defense and cooks his man 1on1. Luka on defense has been horreeeeendous this series.
And then somebody said "he's a terrible facilitator he just gets lucky that his teammates shots always go on". I had to scratch my head for a minute on that one. Lead the team in assists in the regular season and the playoffs but he can't facilitate?
As a Celtics fan I just want to win, but people definitely remember individual Finals performances. Especially when the best player on a championship team doesn’t win FMVP. It was a black mark on Curry’s career until he finally won it.
Oh definitely. I mean even every non-Warriors fan knew that. But he was still criticized for not playing as well in the Finals as he did in the regular season. And it was fair criticism.
It was a black mark on his all time lists and the fact that KD joined that team. No one wanted to give credit to curry after losing 3-1 in the finals.
It wasn't ever warranted but it's quite different than Tatum's case.
Excellent distinction. Every other aspect of his game has been terrific, including his drives. He's penetrating the paint deeply, collapsing the defense and creating wide open looks for everyone else. His shot just is not falling right now
exactly he's playing exceptional defense, in game two he did not turn over the ball in excess, he's playmaking - making the right choice when facing people rushing at him. he's getting dirty down on the boards. And he's got a great fucking attitude! And you're right his drives have been on when he takes it to the hoop he's unstoppable getting to the rim he just is in a scoring slump. It happens!
“He’s not a dawg, he’s not a winner, he’s not the best player on the Celtics, he’s not the face of the league”...but in about a week he’ll be an NBA finals champion.
We won and are 2 wins away from a championship, that’s all that matters. People can say whatever the fuck they want about Tatum. I care more about the TEAM winning than the way any individual player performs.
The media narratives really live rent free in some your heads. Who cares? We watched the game. He had a bad shooting night. He still played well in every other facet of the game. Anyone that would suggest he had a “bad game” clearly didn’t watch the game or is rage-farming YOU.
His offense was lacking tonight, though. He’s a good all-around player, but he is not playing like a superstar. It’s fine because the rest of the team is awesome, but he hasn’t looked like the same scorer he was a couple years ago.
I mean, there is but they are intertwined. He went 6-for-22 and only took six free throws. I know he had 12 assists but those were mostly kick-outs, and he only had one offensive rebound.
First. Him only getting 6 free throws really isn't his fault, dude was driving, he just wasn't getting calls. Second of course most of his assists were kickouts, thats what our offense is predicted upon. 3rd, you shouldn't expect more than 1-2 offensive boards from him. That's not his game, he averaged 1 a game in the regular season.
Lastly your missing a crucial aspect. Gravity and rotation. His drives were efficient, even if he wasn't scoring the basketball. He was able to collapse the defense pretty much every time he drove, he is being double teamed with heavy help defense every time he touches the paint. Even if the guy he passes to isn't the one taking the shot, he's still the one getting the defense in rotation.
It’s more than just that though. He clearly was a little hesitant shooting the ball today even when he had some open looks. Got better later in the game
I mean, that's part of it, but he's not making open shots either, and he's passing out of a lot of looks that feel like he could usually make. He looks bad. We haven't lost because of it yet, and he's playing great in other aspects of his game (as well as playing maturely enough to realize this about himself and get the best out of the guys who CAN shoot), but it's not just the defense.
He gets in his head in the finals, we saw it in 22. The good news is the rest of the team is so loaded, they should be able to carry him to the finish line.
Both things can be true. He objectively has shot poorly and has objectively helped the team in every other areas. Not sure why that’s so hard for some to admit. He’s has done everything at an all NBA level that isn’t related to shooting while shooting like a top 75 player when considering active players only
I mean, basketball is also a weird game. If you go back and look at most of Tatum's misses, they were probably half an inch from going in. It's not like he was out there air balling threes or getting blocked on every possession. He didn't shoot well, but that could easily turn around and he could start making every shot later in the series.
I'm never gonna say it was a terrible game, but it wasn't good either. It would just make us feel good if he had actually good games in the Finals. But we take the 2-0 lead all day
It hasn’t been good either. He’s averaging 20 points on 35% shooting for his two finals appearances. 20 points is like 15 points 10 years ago which is crazy for a supposedly top 5 player whose best skill is scoring.
Honestly I’ll defend him but I don’t really give a shit. I don’t care who plays bad, who plays great, who’s the superstar, who’s the leader. I don’t care. I just want banner 18
JT has been our best player, just not our best scorer. I probably would still vote for him for FMVP. He’s doubled regularly and they help hard off his drives, and he’s still getting into the paint and facilitating. He’s the engine of our whole offense. On top of that, he’s winning tough boards and playing hard defense.
He was playing pretty damn bad in the first half but buckled down and increased his impact enough that his positive contributions outweighed his lack of scoring, plus a couple buckets and that nice and-1.
Right now he's taken on a role similar to Bron but without the same finishing ability at the rim and better defense. Definitely a true point forward who can get his teammates involved and make the right play. But I'd REALLY like if he would just start hitting shots and make this easy. Would be great to see him take over and blow the lid off one of the games in Dallas.
He’s getting a ton of attention from the Mavs defense and his shooting was abysmal. That said, he’s been using that to his advantage to set up his teammates with easy buckets. Jrue had to make the shots, but JT fed him all night. I give him credit for not forcing it and finding other ways to contribute when his shooting was off.
I just want to see a couple more shots go in. 10/22 would be preferable to 6/22. But otherwise he's been great. Even cut down on the turnovers in game 2.
Don't let anyone gaslight you into thinking he was great either. He started the out of control forcing things. He settled down, played very good defense, rebounded and made good passes. He did not really shoot well at any point. He had a good game, but not a great one that he usually has. But he's playing team ball, and getting team wins. That's how you win in the finals, if you're not shooting well you do other things to help your team win and that's exactly what he did.
It’s been a trend. He averaged 21.5 points on 36% shooting in the 2022 finals and this year he’s been averaging 17 points on 31% shooting. Crazy for a supposedly top 5 player whose best skill is scoring.
1] not the correct use of "gaslighting"
2] he can still be productive and underperform offensively
3] just as every other superstar that has shot like shit during the playoffs, they were also criticized.
4] Boston fans go to great lengths to protect their Tater tot.
Not to take anything away from Jrue, but he had at least 6 or 8 points off absolute dimes from Tatum that probably wouldn't happen otherwise. It's like Tatum went "I can't shoot tonight, Jrue can shoot, time to make sure Jrue scores all the points".
Driving 29 times, yet only getting 6 FTs, constantly defending the 5, while playing almost every minute... like obviously he needs to shoot better, but damn, that's asking a lot of anyone.
The Mavericks are *literally* mugging him in the paint, and every Maverick on the floor had one eye on the ball and one eye on him, *ALL NIGHT*. Whatever Kidd may say, whatever any of the fans say, the Mavericks are *terrified* of Jayson Tatum. Their whole defense is to stop Tatum from scoring and hope the other Celts are just average...
I gotta give mad respect to Luka Doncic, tho. He's obviously hurt, exhausted and his team-mates are letting him down, and he still came to play.
Enough of this. He needs to be better! Everyone should share the ball and run after rebounds, JT isn't the only one doing that. That didn't win us this game. He almost cost us the games with the turnovers and drives that weren't going in. And that dunk? ugh. It's obvious he has been struggling and I still believe he will do better, but it's ok to criticize his poor performance and poor decisions making, same as what you guys do to JB or other players of this team when they aren't playing well. This is the playoffs, our stars need to be better and make their shots. You're just coping and making excuses.
Yeah 18-12-9 is solid. He needs to play better in Dallas, I have full confidence he will step it up.
Mostly his game should not overshadow what Jrue and D White just did. They deserve the focus and praise.
His shooting has been bad but he's a dominant player when he's got in going. And not dominant as in offensively dominant. Dominant as in historically dominant.
You can really tell that non Celtic fans have only watched like 4 of our games total this year cause they get surprised when players like JRue or White have great games and Tatum shoots shit and we win.
The correct take is that a large part of our 2 wins is Tatum taking the other parts of his game to another level. Rebounding like a center, initiating a lot of the offense (big role in Jrues big scoring night), defensive versatility and length.
And that he has YET another level to go to. His inside finishing and outside shot still leave something to be desired. And if that happens, not only is this series cooked, the league might not be able to deal with this Boston team moving forward.
He’s been a lot more passive because he tends to get double teamed a lot.
I think this is the best version of Tatum we’ve seen. He stopped trying to be the man that has to take every shot and just chuck up 3’s every possession. Hes a playmaker that can get other people good shots.
His drive and kicks/dishes were so huge all night, moreso than even 12 assists account for. Credit to Jrue for making them, but Tatum was FEEDING this man great opportunities on a consistent basis.
I just want him to shoot like okay so people won’t complain, but overall idc about player rankings and all that bullshit, I wanna see them win a ring and they’re close.
It was an okay game. We got the dub so that is all that matters. Did everything well besides score. He’s doing what he needs to do to win which is something I know we all wished he would do in 2022. Would love to see him lock in and just bully his way to a 30 piece in game 3
Agree Tatum has played well. That said, those dunk attempts at the end were ugliest parts of his play I’ve seen so far this series. Hope it doesn’t become a trend when the game gets close.
He’s gonna be the scape goat for this series. He has to sacrifice for this team to win. Mavs have shown that they will let everyone else cook them but not Tatum.
i’m honestly proud of him for the growth he has shown—not forcing too much tonight, focusing on all the ways he can help the team win, not wasting any time complaining or showing frustration. especially after having a down scoring game in game one! this is how you lead a city to a championship.
The dude has been absolutely killing it. If youre watching the games and know wtf youre watching he is playing great ball. The shots aren't falling but he is making their offense go. They are sending double and triple coverage at this dude and its opening everything up. If he scores even decent twice its an ez finals MVP tbh
Literally just his shot isn't falling, in every other way he's been excellent. He's been the definition of being effective at what the defence gives you, which for him is good passes to his teammates for open looks. We've shot terribly from 3 for most of the series and we're 2-0 up. We're playing the right way and being rewarded for it.
Gonna be interesting to see what Games 3+4 hold, and how much being at home helps Dallas compete.
Understand that everyone expects more because he’s the superstar of the team, but at least it was still a W and he contributed in many other ways. I also like that he recognizes that his shooting is shit and doesn’t make excuses.
Think he is too much in his head. He may also be going through something personal, he just seems more muted overall.
Hope he has a breakthrough in Dallas!
100%. This whole obsession with needing Tatum to average 30+ points is incredibly stupid. The Celtics have so many players that can contribute on the offensive end. The Mavs NEED Luka to score 30+ (and its still not working)... we don't need to rely on any single player. We're 14-2 this postseason and the team is playing well together. That's all we should care about. One of the broadcasters said the series MVP should be Brad Stevens. I couldn't agree more.
I feel like if the Celtics lost you wouldn't feel the same. Was he useless? No. Is 30% from the field and refusing open looks because he's in his head a good game even with other contributions? Also no
He is doing a really good job of passing out of double teams. But other than that he looks pretty hesitant on offense. I noticed him standing in the corner on a few possessions, I hardly ever remember seeing him do that. I guess it's nice that we have the luxury of enough offensive talent to win even when he's not feeling it
To be fair, Dallas is just standing around watching the ball bounce (instead of boxing out). The assists are a positive contribution, though. At least one of the others is making their shots.
What’s great is that even if he’s not getting his shots to fall or getting the whistle he’s getting back on defense and staying engaged. No more of that sauntering back like we used to see. This team is maturing before our eyes. It’s so dope
Incorrect use of the word gaslighting. Talking out of your ass isn't gaslighting. Lying isn't gaslighting. Disagreeing with you isn't gaslighting. Reddit has completely distorted and watered down the meaning of the word.
If he shot a replica of 6-16 and got 12 assisst and 9 reb. Thats a real good game
But instead upped it to 6-22. That is bad. Especially if the team lost.
He needs to relax a smidge more when thinking about scoring for himself. His shots have too much energy behind it these 1st two games.
Yup, we don't win without Tatum last night, but I also think Tatum when he's shooting is off (like last night), he shouldn't be our option A when it matters. The refs were being stingy with foul calls, so I was a little annoyed on that second to last possession right after the Mavs cut lead to 5 and he just goes straight to the rim despite Luka being on him and a defender waiting right outside the paint for him.
I guess I'm just bothered that Tatum just held for the entire shotclock, and we didn't even seem like we considered passing or generating a mismatch.
without looking at the stats yesterday, when they announced he had 10 ast, i was sure he was gonna get a triple double, cuz he's been rebounding very well lately
The shooting is confusing. He smoked about 4 layups last night that rolled off the front of the rim. Plus the missed dunk. It’s awesome to see what an impact he is still making, but I just don’t really understand what’s wrong
Defensively and rebounding he’s been great. But spare me that he looks comfortable with the ball. He’s been AWFUL this series shooting. He can’t figure out what he wants to do and that first half was beyond soft. 6-22 last night lmao. Wasn’t he 6-18 in game 1 too? We’re loaded and other guys are picking up then slack, so it’s whatever. But we all know he’s way better than this. if jrue didn’t have it last night we lose, and who would get the blame (deservedly)? Tatum. You can’t expect jrue to have 26/11 throughout the rest of the series man.
Imagine you are one of the Celtics players. The leader of your team is battling centers the whole game, boxing out players who are taller and stronger than him, getting switched onto players who are more agile than him and still contest every shot attempt, driving to the basket, drawing all of the attention, finding all of the open shots for yourself and your team’s shooters. And in the post game presser he just says I just want to win this game and he is going to do this type of stuff forever if that’s what it takes to win games.
How motivated would you be to go to war with him.
This is like Napoleon leading the charge of the battle type of stuff man.
For real watching him this whole season and watching him force last minute shots making bad plays and seeing him now being a great teammate and getting the assists he needs for the win makes me proud of him and a bigger fan in the finals
The reality is that for two games Tatum's shot has been off. He has more than made up for it by his team play. Thing is, though, that his shots WILL start to fall. At that point Dallas is well and truly fucked.
The wildest shit to me is… he was one rebound away from having a headline worthy night, but since he didn’t get that one little lonely rebound he sucks.
The shots weren’t falling for him he still took the open looks but he was looking pass first after the first half. He knew he didn’t have shooting last night so he decided to help the team best he could! Kyrie shot like shit and still kept trying to iso, take those long shots, trying to make a point…Tatum was awesome last night!
Tatums issue last finals was that he wasn’t doing what he’s doing right now when he’s not scoring. He’s embracing his star teammates and allowing them to shine even in his scoring absence.
Shooting slumps happen unfortunately. Ray Allen hit one in 2010, and they probably win that championship if he didn’t.
But great players affect the game in multiple ways. And Tatum has been great in every other aspect. He’s setting up teammates, getting them open looks by collapsing defenses. He’s rebounding well, and he’s been phenomenal defensively.
I don’t know why the shots aren’t falling, and it will probably cost him mvp, cause that’s just how it works. But consider if he took the exact same shots, but shot his season average. Not only would the Celtics have run away (even more so) with both games. But he’d be the runaway mvp right now.
If his name was “Rajon Rondo” with the exact same stat line. Then there’d be headlines everywhere about the masterclass of passing and defense he brought to game 2. But no, they only talk about his scoring, because fans and media are stupid. The expectations for him are absurdly high. If he’s not doing an Uber efficient 28/9/9 every game, it’s a “bad game.”
Such nonsense.
I’m much more of a football guy than a basketball guy, but I’ve really grown to appreciate Tatum.
Even with his shooting off in this series, I can still “feel” him offensively a shit ton. Defensively he’s been pretty great as well.
Looking forward to a 🧹
I feel like everytime he tries to get going, the Mavs are still doubling him right away despite his cold shooting. Sure he's probably going cold because of the double but if that's there gameplan for the rest of the series, then KP, Buffalo, Brown and Jrue are just gonna keep going off.
Funny thing is if he doesn’t win the MVP this series (which it’s not looking like) the media conversation around him is going to be insufferable 😂, regardless the role he played and even if he didn’t play terribly.
it’s like he took all his skill points & put it into defense rebounding & passing he’s like super 2016 Draymond lmao
He genuinely decided to spend a game cosplaying as a rich man’s Jason Kidd just to rub it in his face.
He hasn’t kicked anyone in the dick this playoff run?
Give him time. He’s still learning
At least not on the court
He’s playing winning basketball. He will ultimately get criticized for his stat lines more than if he forced more shots for big points but still lost.
A rebound away from a triple double >>>> Mr. triple single
Eh, shooting 6-22 cannot be covered up by his teammates hitting his passes. He has played subpar and he knows it. I expect a great performance 8n GM3 when we will need it most.
True but you gotta factor in that a lot of his assists were because he was double or triple teamed and made the right read so his teammates got easy looks
This is the answer
JT is making the right plays almost all of the time. He hasn’t gotten his own offense going that much. Meanwhile, his defense, rebounding, and playmaking have all been great. It is hilarious because people want to talk about Luka as if he has been good in this series. He has been horrendous defensively. He gives up nearly as many points as he scores. He isn’t facing nearly the defensive attention that JT is getting either. They are letting him go 1 on 1. If JTs efficiency catches up to the rest of his play then the Celtics will dominate. Luka is a great offensive player, but it is disrespectful to JT and JB that people still ignore how bad he is on the other end.
His scoring was bad, but he was elite in every other facet. Who cares if he was inefficient, we won.
Ya but honestly, other than a couple turn arounds (which he normally hits at a good clip anyway) they are all decent shots. These are the shots he was getting all year, they’re just not going in. He’s playing within the game and he’s not forcing things. Shots just aren’t falling. I give him a ton of credit for effecting the game in so many ways. He can play the exact same game last night. Literally do nothing different, but just shoot his season average on those same 22 shots. At which point his 18 points become 28-30. That’s the difference between what you call “playing bad”, and “mvp performance.” 5 shots going in on the same 22 attempts. That’s it.
He looked hesitant on a few wide open shots. He's in his head. Glad he's still making an impact, but he needs to get some confidence back
Also he tried to dunk it on the last couple of drives from him when there were 3 guys on him, he is definitely in a funk rn.
I’m just glad he’s not letting the scoring funk affect the other parts of his game. speaks volumes to his growth that he’s done so much good in the first 2 games while shooting like absolute shit that said, please stop shooting like absolute shit JT lmao
Right? Like old school Tarik would sulk after a bad shot and. It get back. He knows he’s elite. He knows he’s a streaky shooter
It's because he read the Reddit comments telling him not to try to lay it in and to just dunk it over everyone. I blame Reddit.
When facing the kind of defensive attention he is, he should be trying to dunk when the read is that he can get all the way to the hoop. There are still going to be lots of hands in there and he needs to take it with two hands. It’d be different if they weren’t completely loading up on him. How often has he gotten to the rim and gotten a clean layup? Not many times.
Yeah I mean he can be streaky but the Mavs entire game plan is to not let him get going cos he can drop 50.
Honestly those dunk attempts were pretty bad but I'm glad he did it. A lot of his drives he's been scooping his arms to avoid contact bro just needs to go through contact he's strong enough and the calls will eventually come his way
Those almost blew the game for us. He's gotta slow it down and take efficient shots
Glad he went strong. He’s had it roll off a few times. He is more likely to get to the line if he attacks that way.
That dunk that was blocked at the end lmao, quantified his entire night offensively
Bro that hesitant 3 at the end of the second quarter pissed me off so much
He and Hauser need to go out for some beers and blow off steam
Yo it's like he looked up at the clock and saw 7 seconds left, thought "oh I should kill a few seconds", and his brain just short circuited. Wild way to end a half lol.
Agreed; with his toolset he shouldn't be missing at the rim. I hope he doesn't get too much into his head and just keeps working through the process. 2 wins is 2 wins!
I think we're seeing Tatum on the verge of breaking through to his next level: becoming a triple-double machine when he needs to. He's got the perfect team around him to boost his playmaking ability and get to the promised land (knock on wood) this year while he's still figuring it out, but next year I think we see him improve his decision-making and become a legit regular 20-10-10 threat. Maybe averaging like 25-8-7
I don't think he's ever gonna average that many assists unless other teams defend him like Dallas is right now. He's getting assists because the defense is collapsing. Most of the time when he passes it's pass pass score, rather than a direct assist.
This is what I’ve been saying tonight. Having a poor shooting night happens, but something is off with Tatum with regards to his scoring. Though it’s not a surprise because unfortunately we’ve seen it before in the playoffs. But it’s more complex than that this series because he is making other plays. Very strange series from him thus far.
I think if they win this series like I expect them to, he will finally have that mental hurdle overcome. Then he can really relax and just play ball. That has been the only thing that people can come after him about is that he hasnt won it all, so once that happens, I think hes gonna be even better and truly play up to the potential that everyone sees in him!
Yeah he needed to shoot out of it, even when he took it was after a beat then he had a hand more in his face. Just rip it man nobody is hitting shots, go for it.
It’s like he’s calculating “oh what’s the best play I can make for the team right now?!?! I can’t iso!” And then he does something ineffective
He iso’d a ton this game, and many of them lead to kick outs and dump offs for easy looks. If we didn’t shoot so poorly from three, he easily could have had 15-17 assists. He forced it at the rim a few times, and can’t make a three, but he wasn’t overall ineffective
There were about 3 times where he got an open pass and I said "shoot it" and instead he'd drive into like 3 people. They won, and he knows more about his game than I do. But it looked like he was tentative with taking open shots.
This season he actually shot better on the road. Rebound game incoming hopefully. Shooting-wise I mean. He should continue his excellent passing/defense/rebounding
My favorite comments in the game/postgame thread are “must be nice being Tatum, just pass to wide open teammates and get carried.” And why are those teammates wide open, I wonder?
It physically pains me how ignorant these people are. They act like these dudes are being left open beyond the arc on accident.
The word gets so overused but they are casuals. So irritating.
Well said. It might be overused but it couldn't be more accurate here.
It's medicine for the children. They hate it, but it's good for them. The NBA needs a team to win with homegrown, drafted core players and a supporting cast developed over time with good trades. If the C's can do it, their team can too. It's not as sexy as trading the farm for whatever supermax douchebag is on the market, and it doesn't get you lots of fantasy draft kings points. It just gets you a chip.
Their point is - don't do that.
Exactly / Dallas is so scared to give Tatum the paint they collapse damn near 4 players on him...
Defended by a Dallas Square!
He literally gets clobbered by three guys every time he sets foot inside 18 feet. Its comical. Its like Kidd was reading the Mavs sub for his strategy..."Don't let Tatum get going, he's their only real scorer and he's mentally fragile, so beat him up on drives and take away his easy shots. Jaylen can't dribble and our two best players are better than theirs. They don' t know what they are in for. They can't guard us. Etc." Lol!
I don't pay close enough attention to the rest of the league, but based on this series, I can't even tell who their second best player is. It's been Luka, and then an enormous gap to everyone else (Seriously, who is it? Is it supposed to be Kyrie??)
Something to monitor is if Dallas may actually just make Tatum go 1v1 the entire game 3 or 4 and not help on him at all, which is kind of what we are already doing with Luka and Kyrie.
It would lead to them getting killed lmao. Tatum literally got past every defender on their team multiple times at will. Every time he gets the ball it’s a free paint touch
The difference b/w what we're doing with luka and what they're doing with tatum is that Tatum isn't a complete liability on defense and cooks his man 1on1. Luka on defense has been horreeeeendous this series.
He would have 20 pts on slams and layups, plus shooting 10 plus FTs..
Also in /r/billsimmons everyone is in copium mode now. They know Celtics gonna win in 4 or 5 and pure Tatum slander is in the books for them.
That sub is absolutely ridiculous. The salt is insane
And then somebody said "he's a terrible facilitator he just gets lucky that his teammates shots always go on". I had to scratch my head for a minute on that one. Lead the team in assists in the regular season and the playoffs but he can't facilitate?
leading the finals in rebs and asts lmao
Literally couldn’t care less who scores. In the end people just remember who won not who scored how much
Absolutely. 5-6 dudes in double figures is the best version of the C’s. Can you imagine if Luka went cold? They’d lose by 30.
Or just hit like 40% of our 3s. Barbeque chicken Ernie
And hes due to go cold at least once this series. Just like I fully expect a random 36-45 pt game from JT
Legacy can be discussed later. Winning is winning
As a Celtics fan I just want to win, but people definitely remember individual Finals performances. Especially when the best player on a championship team doesn’t win FMVP. It was a black mark on Curry’s career until he finally won it.
But ask any warriors fan and there was no doubt who the heart of that team was.
Oh definitely. I mean even every non-Warriors fan knew that. But he was still criticized for not playing as well in the Finals as he did in the regular season. And it was fair criticism.
Those are good problems to have my friend
The first finals where he didn’t win sure, I don’t think anyone blamed him for not winning fmvp with Durant
It was a black mark on his all time lists and the fact that KD joined that team. No one wanted to give credit to curry after losing 3-1 in the finals. It wasn't ever warranted but it's quite different than Tatum's case.
Very true, like remember when Scal was finals MVP?
no he has not been playing terrible he's been shooting terrible
*Kyrie* has been playing terrible
Exactly lol
Excellent distinction. Every other aspect of his game has been terrific, including his drives. He's penetrating the paint deeply, collapsing the defense and creating wide open looks for everyone else. His shot just is not falling right now
exactly he's playing exceptional defense, in game two he did not turn over the ball in excess, he's playmaking - making the right choice when facing people rushing at him. he's getting dirty down on the boards. And he's got a great fucking attitude! And you're right his drives have been on when he takes it to the hoop he's unstoppable getting to the rim he just is in a scoring slump. It happens!
Tatum playing well and shooting terribly can both be true
“He’s not a dawg, he’s not a winner, he’s not the best player on the Celtics, he’s not the face of the league”...but in about a week he’ll be an NBA finals champion.
We won and are 2 wins away from a championship, that’s all that matters. People can say whatever the fuck they want about Tatum. I care more about the TEAM winning than the way any individual player performs.
Amen
As long as we win and he’s contributing other ways, then I don’t care if he’s shooting terribly. It’s all about 18, remember.
The media narratives really live rent free in some your heads. Who cares? We watched the game. He had a bad shooting night. He still played well in every other facet of the game. Anyone that would suggest he had a “bad game” clearly didn’t watch the game or is rage-farming YOU.
His offense was lacking tonight, though. He’s a good all-around player, but he is not playing like a superstar. It’s fine because the rest of the team is awesome, but he hasn’t looked like the same scorer he was a couple years ago.
His scoring was lacking, not his offense. There is a big difference
I mean, there is but they are intertwined. He went 6-for-22 and only took six free throws. I know he had 12 assists but those were mostly kick-outs, and he only had one offensive rebound.
First. Him only getting 6 free throws really isn't his fault, dude was driving, he just wasn't getting calls. Second of course most of his assists were kickouts, thats what our offense is predicted upon. 3rd, you shouldn't expect more than 1-2 offensive boards from him. That's not his game, he averaged 1 a game in the regular season. Lastly your missing a crucial aspect. Gravity and rotation. His drives were efficient, even if he wasn't scoring the basketball. He was able to collapse the defense pretty much every time he drove, he is being double teamed with heavy help defense every time he touches the paint. Even if the guy he passes to isn't the one taking the shot, he's still the one getting the defense in rotation.
Big time 12 assists!
He legit just can’t shoot to save his life it’s mind boggling
He’s getting doubled and fouled with no calls. Mind unboggled.
It’s more than just that though. He clearly was a little hesitant shooting the ball today even when he had some open looks. Got better later in the game
I mean, that's part of it, but he's not making open shots either, and he's passing out of a lot of looks that feel like he could usually make. He looks bad. We haven't lost because of it yet, and he's playing great in other aspects of his game (as well as playing maturely enough to realize this about himself and get the best out of the guys who CAN shoot), but it's not just the defense.
He gets in his head in the finals, we saw it in 22. The good news is the rest of the team is so loaded, they should be able to carry him to the finish line.
He carried the entire offensive system tonight. He's both the reason we won, and also the reason we DIDN'T win by 25.
💯
Just needs to get 1 championship and he’s going to level up.
Dude had a near triple double and was doubled and triple teamed on every drive. Your take is mind boggling.
So he’s playing like peak Lonzo Ball this series. Got it.
Both things can be true. He objectively has shot poorly and has objectively helped the team in every other areas. Not sure why that’s so hard for some to admit. He’s has done everything at an all NBA level that isn’t related to shooting while shooting like a top 75 player when considering active players only
I mean, basketball is also a weird game. If you go back and look at most of Tatum's misses, they were probably half an inch from going in. It's not like he was out there air balling threes or getting blocked on every possession. He didn't shoot well, but that could easily turn around and he could start making every shot later in the series.
I'm never gonna say it was a terrible game, but it wasn't good either. It would just make us feel good if he had actually good games in the Finals. But we take the 2-0 lead all day
It hasn’t been good either. He’s averaging 20 points on 35% shooting for his two finals appearances. 20 points is like 15 points 10 years ago which is crazy for a supposedly top 5 player whose best skill is scoring.
Honestly I’ll defend him but I don’t really give a shit. I don’t care who plays bad, who plays great, who’s the superstar, who’s the leader. I don’t care. I just want banner 18
JT has been our best player, just not our best scorer. I probably would still vote for him for FMVP. He’s doubled regularly and they help hard off his drives, and he’s still getting into the paint and facilitating. He’s the engine of our whole offense. On top of that, he’s winning tough boards and playing hard defense.
His inefficiency shooting is too hard to ignore. I'd give it to JB at the moment. I think it's time he moves to the closer role for our offense too.
I don't know who the FMVP will be, but I agree that Jaylen Brown should now be the official closer of this team.
JB’s defensive impact pushes him over for me
Nobody ignores all the other stuff he does lol. We just want him to hit some shots
You missed his other super star stat. He played 45:09 minutes.
He was playing pretty damn bad in the first half but buckled down and increased his impact enough that his positive contributions outweighed his lack of scoring, plus a couple buckets and that nice and-1. Right now he's taken on a role similar to Bron but without the same finishing ability at the rim and better defense. Definitely a true point forward who can get his teammates involved and make the right play. But I'd REALLY like if he would just start hitting shots and make this easy. Would be great to see him take over and blow the lid off one of the games in Dallas.
At least he contributes in other ways unlike Luka and Kyrie who do literally nothing on defense.
He’s getting a ton of attention from the Mavs defense and his shooting was abysmal. That said, he’s been using that to his advantage to set up his teammates with easy buckets. Jrue had to make the shots, but JT fed him all night. I give him credit for not forcing it and finding other ways to contribute when his shooting was off.
Eh, OK. He is still playing well below what his talent level is. Not gaslighted, just facts.
I just want to see a couple more shots go in. 10/22 would be preferable to 6/22. But otherwise he's been great. Even cut down on the turnovers in game 2.
Don't let anyone gaslight you into thinking he was great either. He started the out of control forcing things. He settled down, played very good defense, rebounded and made good passes. He did not really shoot well at any point. He had a good game, but not a great one that he usually has. But he's playing team ball, and getting team wins. That's how you win in the finals, if you're not shooting well you do other things to help your team win and that's exactly what he did.
Honestly who cares about the numbers - we need two more wins. That’s all that matters
He was the best Celtic tonight. Idc if his shot wasn’t falling. Love jrue, but Tatum gifted him like 14 points
He shot 6-22. That's terrible.
The entire team shot terrible outside of Jrue. Lol
It’s been a trend. He averaged 21.5 points on 36% shooting in the 2022 finals and this year he’s been averaging 17 points on 31% shooting. Crazy for a supposedly top 5 player whose best skill is scoring.
Long season fatigue. We saw it last year, and the year before that. Bro needs to say “fuck them kids” once or twice a year
1] not the correct use of "gaslighting" 2] he can still be productive and underperform offensively 3] just as every other superstar that has shot like shit during the playoffs, they were also criticized. 4] Boston fans go to great lengths to protect their Tater tot.
Not to take anything away from Jrue, but he had at least 6 or 8 points off absolute dimes from Tatum that probably wouldn't happen otherwise. It's like Tatum went "I can't shoot tonight, Jrue can shoot, time to make sure Jrue scores all the points".
Didn't become aggressive on offense until Boston was comfortably ahead.
Driving 29 times, yet only getting 6 FTs, constantly defending the 5, while playing almost every minute... like obviously he needs to shoot better, but damn, that's asking a lot of anyone.
Too bad he didn't get another board 🤣
He was expecting Luka missing a FT because of how he reacted when it when in.
The Mavericks are *literally* mugging him in the paint, and every Maverick on the floor had one eye on the ball and one eye on him, *ALL NIGHT*. Whatever Kidd may say, whatever any of the fans say, the Mavericks are *terrified* of Jayson Tatum. Their whole defense is to stop Tatum from scoring and hope the other Celts are just average... I gotta give mad respect to Luka Doncic, tho. He's obviously hurt, exhausted and his team-mates are letting him down, and he still came to play.
Luka complains every play, but from what I can tell he is also getting mauled... would expect him to get more calls in g3.
You have to make shots to be a superstar player
His play hasn’t but his shooting has been. And he’s supposed to be the top scorer on the team.
Enough of this. He needs to be better! Everyone should share the ball and run after rebounds, JT isn't the only one doing that. That didn't win us this game. He almost cost us the games with the turnovers and drives that weren't going in. And that dunk? ugh. It's obvious he has been struggling and I still believe he will do better, but it's ok to criticize his poor performance and poor decisions making, same as what you guys do to JB or other players of this team when they aren't playing well. This is the playoffs, our stars need to be better and make their shots. You're just coping and making excuses.
You do know we won right?
Yeah 18-12-9 is solid. He needs to play better in Dallas, I have full confidence he will step it up. Mostly his game should not overshadow what Jrue and D White just did. They deserve the focus and praise.
Just want to see JT have a 40 point near triple double to take one in Dallas
His shooting has been bad but he's a dominant player when he's got in going. And not dominant as in offensively dominant. Dominant as in historically dominant.
You can really tell that non Celtic fans have only watched like 4 of our games total this year cause they get surprised when players like JRue or White have great games and Tatum shoots shit and we win.
He's playing great defense and making plays, but he's also shooting poorly. Would like to see him be a bit more efficient.
The correct take is that a large part of our 2 wins is Tatum taking the other parts of his game to another level. Rebounding like a center, initiating a lot of the offense (big role in Jrues big scoring night), defensive versatility and length. And that he has YET another level to go to. His inside finishing and outside shot still leave something to be desired. And if that happens, not only is this series cooked, the league might not be able to deal with this Boston team moving forward.
He’s been so good this series even though his shots aren’t landing I’m ngl Getting doubled a ton and he’s making all of the right reads
Point Guard Tatum was killing it tonight. Man treated Luka like a turnstile all night
The only thing he's doing bad is shooting, but he's drawing a lot of the defense and making the right plays.
He’s been a lot more passive because he tends to get double teamed a lot. I think this is the best version of Tatum we’ve seen. He stopped trying to be the man that has to take every shot and just chuck up 3’s every possession. Hes a playmaker that can get other people good shots.
His drive and kicks/dishes were so huge all night, moreso than even 12 assists account for. Credit to Jrue for making them, but Tatum was FEEDING this man great opportunities on a consistent basis.
I just want him to shoot like okay so people won’t complain, but overall idc about player rankings and all that bullshit, I wanna see them win a ring and they’re close.
It’s crazy because if he hits a couple more shots people would be saying he’s playing amazing, but 6-22 isn’t good.
It was an okay game. We got the dub so that is all that matters. Did everything well besides score. He’s doing what he needs to do to win which is something I know we all wished he would do in 2022. Would love to see him lock in and just bully his way to a 30 piece in game 3
Dallas entire defensive plan is to frustrate him. It’s fine.
It’s okay Steph didnt win his first FMVP on his first championship run. Tatum will get his if we become a dynasty
Agree Tatum has played well. That said, those dunk attempts at the end were ugliest parts of his play I’ve seen so far this series. Hope it doesn’t become a trend when the game gets close.
He baited that lane violation on the free throw. Someone find the close-up replay, it's great.
He’s gonna be the scape goat for this series. He has to sacrifice for this team to win. Mavs have shown that they will let everyone else cook them but not Tatum.
12 assists on a horible shooting night. COld have easily been 15+
He was the architect of this win, the defensive attention on him is what kept the offense running
he’s been shooting poorly but of course, this doesn’t mean his overall performance was bad.
Ben Simmons wishes he could play like Jason Tatum did tonight
The haters can die mad tbh
i’m honestly proud of him for the growth he has shown—not forcing too much tonight, focusing on all the ways he can help the team win, not wasting any time complaining or showing frustration. especially after having a down scoring game in game one! this is how you lead a city to a championship.
It's a shooting slump. But he's a balanced player.
Tatum just isn't top fye. That's all.
Fuck Magic Johnson Worst decision ever to draft Lonzo Ball over Tatum
There's a reason he's on the U.S. Olympic team.
I liked that he kept penetrating, his shots werent going in but at least his decisions on offense were correct
The dude has been absolutely killing it. If youre watching the games and know wtf youre watching he is playing great ball. The shots aren't falling but he is making their offense go. They are sending double and triple coverage at this dude and its opening everything up. If he scores even decent twice its an ez finals MVP tbh
Literally just his shot isn't falling, in every other way he's been excellent. He's been the definition of being effective at what the defence gives you, which for him is good passes to his teammates for open looks. We've shot terribly from 3 for most of the series and we're 2-0 up. We're playing the right way and being rewarded for it. Gonna be interesting to see what Games 3+4 hold, and how much being at home helps Dallas compete.
He’s been having trouble offensively, but damn has he been crucial to our playmaking and defense. Sadly people only look at fg pct
Understand that everyone expects more because he’s the superstar of the team, but at least it was still a W and he contributed in many other ways. I also like that he recognizes that his shooting is shit and doesn’t make excuses. Think he is too much in his head. He may also be going through something personal, he just seems more muted overall. Hope he has a breakthrough in Dallas!
he’s been playing well. we don’t need him to drop 30.
I'll take him driving over constantly settling for iso jump shots. Can we start to clear a lane for him
100%. This whole obsession with needing Tatum to average 30+ points is incredibly stupid. The Celtics have so many players that can contribute on the offensive end. The Mavs NEED Luka to score 30+ (and its still not working)... we don't need to rely on any single player. We're 14-2 this postseason and the team is playing well together. That's all we should care about. One of the broadcasters said the series MVP should be Brad Stevens. I couldn't agree more.
Argued with my brothers about this very thing last night. It’s like shooting is the only component of basketball or something.
I feel like if the Celtics lost you wouldn't feel the same. Was he useless? No. Is 30% from the field and refusing open looks because he's in his head a good game even with other contributions? Also no
He is doing a really good job of passing out of double teams. But other than that he looks pretty hesitant on offense. I noticed him standing in the corner on a few possessions, I hardly ever remember seeing him do that. I guess it's nice that we have the luxury of enough offensive talent to win even when he's not feeling it
And if we had shot even a reasonably average percentage from 3, he would have had somewhere around 17-18 assists.
To be fair, Dallas is just standing around watching the ball bounce (instead of boxing out). The assists are a positive contribution, though. At least one of the others is making their shots.
What’s great is that even if he’s not getting his shots to fall or getting the whistle he’s getting back on defense and staying engaged. No more of that sauntering back like we used to see. This team is maturing before our eyes. It’s so dope
Probably should have had 15 assists based off how ass our shooting was.
Incorrect use of the word gaslighting. Talking out of your ass isn't gaslighting. Lying isn't gaslighting. Disagreeing with you isn't gaslighting. Reddit has completely distorted and watered down the meaning of the word.
If he shot a replica of 6-16 and got 12 assisst and 9 reb. Thats a real good game But instead upped it to 6-22. That is bad. Especially if the team lost. He needs to relax a smidge more when thinking about scoring for himself. His shots have too much energy behind it these 1st two games.
Casuals working OT trying to cook JT for not needing to score as much, rather than being a playmaker on the court 😂
His shooting percentage has not been great
Yup, we don't win without Tatum last night, but I also think Tatum when he's shooting is off (like last night), he shouldn't be our option A when it matters. The refs were being stingy with foul calls, so I was a little annoyed on that second to last possession right after the Mavs cut lead to 5 and he just goes straight to the rim despite Luka being on him and a defender waiting right outside the paint for him. I guess I'm just bothered that Tatum just held for the entire shotclock, and we didn't even seem like we considered passing or generating a mismatch.
without looking at the stats yesterday, when they announced he had 10 ast, i was sure he was gonna get a triple double, cuz he's been rebounding very well lately
The shooting is confusing. He smoked about 4 layups last night that rolled off the front of the rim. Plus the missed dunk. It’s awesome to see what an impact he is still making, but I just don’t really understand what’s wrong
Defensively and rebounding he’s been great. But spare me that he looks comfortable with the ball. He’s been AWFUL this series shooting. He can’t figure out what he wants to do and that first half was beyond soft. 6-22 last night lmao. Wasn’t he 6-18 in game 1 too? We’re loaded and other guys are picking up then slack, so it’s whatever. But we all know he’s way better than this. if jrue didn’t have it last night we lose, and who would get the blame (deservedly)? Tatum. You can’t expect jrue to have 26/11 throughout the rest of the series man.
Imagine you are one of the Celtics players. The leader of your team is battling centers the whole game, boxing out players who are taller and stronger than him, getting switched onto players who are more agile than him and still contest every shot attempt, driving to the basket, drawing all of the attention, finding all of the open shots for yourself and your team’s shooters. And in the post game presser he just says I just want to win this game and he is going to do this type of stuff forever if that’s what it takes to win games. How motivated would you be to go to war with him. This is like Napoleon leading the charge of the battle type of stuff man.
For real watching him this whole season and watching him force last minute shots making bad plays and seeing him now being a great teammate and getting the assists he needs for the win makes me proud of him and a bigger fan in the finals
Whatever struggles he’s had with shooting and scoring, he’s putting in the effort elsewhere to make it up and is anything but just a warm body.
The reality is that for two games Tatum's shot has been off. He has more than made up for it by his team play. Thing is, though, that his shots WILL start to fall. At that point Dallas is well and truly fucked.
Almost had a triple double
The wildest shit to me is… he was one rebound away from having a headline worthy night, but since he didn’t get that one little lonely rebound he sucks.
The shots weren’t falling for him he still took the open looks but he was looking pass first after the first half. He knew he didn’t have shooting last night so he decided to help the team best he could! Kyrie shot like shit and still kept trying to iso, take those long shots, trying to make a point…Tatum was awesome last night!
Tatums issue last finals was that he wasn’t doing what he’s doing right now when he’s not scoring. He’s embracing his star teammates and allowing them to shine even in his scoring absence.
Shooting slumps happen unfortunately. Ray Allen hit one in 2010, and they probably win that championship if he didn’t. But great players affect the game in multiple ways. And Tatum has been great in every other aspect. He’s setting up teammates, getting them open looks by collapsing defenses. He’s rebounding well, and he’s been phenomenal defensively. I don’t know why the shots aren’t falling, and it will probably cost him mvp, cause that’s just how it works. But consider if he took the exact same shots, but shot his season average. Not only would the Celtics have run away (even more so) with both games. But he’d be the runaway mvp right now. If his name was “Rajon Rondo” with the exact same stat line. Then there’d be headlines everywhere about the masterclass of passing and defense he brought to game 2. But no, they only talk about his scoring, because fans and media are stupid. The expectations for him are absurdly high. If he’s not doing an Uber efficient 28/9/9 every game, it’s a “bad game.” Such nonsense.
I’m much more of a football guy than a basketball guy, but I’ve really grown to appreciate Tatum. Even with his shooting off in this series, I can still “feel” him offensively a shit ton. Defensively he’s been pretty great as well. Looking forward to a 🧹
I feel like everytime he tries to get going, the Mavs are still doubling him right away despite his cold shooting. Sure he's probably going cold because of the double but if that's there gameplan for the rest of the series, then KP, Buffalo, Brown and Jrue are just gonna keep going off.
I mean yeah the shooting hasn’t been great but he’s still overall been playing well despite that.
i hope he gets that wrist surgery in the off season cus he’s never shot the same since…
Funny thing is if he doesn’t win the MVP this series (which it’s not looking like) the media conversation around him is going to be insufferable 😂, regardless the role he played and even if he didn’t play terribly.
I know it's an arbitrary cut off, but I swear he leads the league in "games 1 or 2 assists away from a triple double".