The Boston Celtics are on the verge of winning its 18th NBA Championship in franchise history, and Finals MVP is starting to take shape.
It appears to be a two-man race for Finals MVP, and through three games, Jaylen Brown appears to be ahead, fresh off an outstanding 30 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists output in Game 3, including a clutch jump shot that helped stymie a late Mavericks run.
Brown is now the heavy favorite to win Finals MVP, with his teammate Jayson Tatum the only other one within striking distance.
Brown was the exclamation point on the Celtics second-half surge past the Mavericks, sparked by a 35-19 third quarter. Brown scored 15 points in the third quarter and 24 in the entire second half to finish with a healthy stat line.
He is averaging 24 points, six rebounds, and five assists while shooting 55% from the field in the NBA Finals, and also had the game-sealing jumper.
Tatum is the only other player in the mix, fresh off his best scoring performance of the series, putting in 31 points with six rebounds and five assists, but did shoot 11-for-26 as he continues to struggle with his shot. Tatum has been stuffing the stat sheet with 21 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, but is shooting below 36% from the field.
Brown, who won Eastern Conference Finals MVP, looks primed to take home Finals MVP with Tatum’s inability to score efficiently, and with the Celtics well on its way to banner No. 18.
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When Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said last week that Jaylen Brown was the Boston Celtics’ “best player,” it was widely believed that Kidd was playing mind games (an allegation Kidd denied) rather than expressing an earnest opinion about Boston’s hierarchy. But he may have been right.
Kidd’s initial assertion seemed outlandish because Jayson Tatum undoubtedly has a better résumé than Brown. (Tatum was named First-Team All-NBA in each of the past three seasons, while Brown has just one Second-Team selection to his name.) Brown is a star, but Tatum is a superstar. In the Finals, though, it’s Brown who has shone brightest.
Tatum struggled offensively in the first two games of the series, averaging 17 points per game on 31.6% shooting (although he contributed in other ways). And while Tatum was better in Game 3 (31 points on 11-of-26 shooting), he was quiet again in the fourth quarter as the Mavs mounted a ferocious comeback, making just one of his five field-goal attempts.
That’s when Brown stepped up.
The fourth quarter very nearly turned into a nightmare for the Celtics. Boston was able to stretch its lead to 21 points in the opening minutes but saw that lead evaporate as the Mavs reeled off a 22–2 run to cut the deficit to one. The only Boston basket scored during Dallas’s run—which lasted more than seven minutes—was by Brown. He played a huge role in helping stop the skid, scoring on a putback layup with 3:08 to play that made it 95–92 in favor of the Celtics and hitting a contested jumper with 1:01 to play that made it 102–98. He scored nine of Boston’s 21 points in the final quarter as the Celtics held on to win, 106–99.
“I mean, how can I explain Jaylen?” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “The guy just has a growth mindset. He just wants to get better. He yearns to get better. He’s not afraid to face his weaknesses on the court. So when you have that type of mindset, you’re just going to be able to take on every situation that the game brings you. He puts himself in every single situation that he sees in a game. He uses six, seven, eight coaches a day, and every situation on both ends of the floor, he puts himself in that.
“And that’s how you have to grow, is to become vulnerable and on the things that make you uncomfortable, and he does that.”
Brown’s biggest play of the night, though, may have been the foul he drew on Luka Doncic with 4:12 to play. Brown attacked Doncic in transition and gave Doncic no choice but to commit a foul, causing him to foul out. Doncic’s absence changed the entire shape of the game. Once Doncic was forced to leave the floor, Dallas’s comeback came to a screeching halt. Kyrie Irving did his best to carry the Mavs, but Doncic’s absence allowed Boston's defense to zero in on Irving.
Doncic’s poor performance was the other main takeaway from Game 3. He scored 27 points, but his uninspired defense left him vulnerable to foul calls, eventually leading to his disqualification from the game. His constant complaints to the referees probably didn’t help flip any borderline calls in his favor, either.
Doncic has never been a great defender but that’s been especially problematic against a Boston team whose scoring depth makes hiding Doncic on defense impossible. And he’s clearly struggling with injuries that hinder his mobility, making him even more of a defensive liability. Doncic certainly looks like he could use a rest, and now that the Mavs have fallen behind 3–0 in the series, it appears he’ll be getting one very soon.
McIlroy is looking for his first major victory in a decade. / Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports
… things I saw last night:
5. The couple that got married in the stands during a Giants game. 4. Giancarlo Stanton’s 449-foot shot for his 17th home run of the season. Stanton, Juan Soto (17) and Aaron Judge (25) have combined for 59 homers this season, which is more than five teams have on the year. 3. Christian Pulisic’s free-kick goal vs. Brazil. 2. Angel Reese’s big game against the league-leading Sun. She had a career-high 20 points and 10 rebounds as she notched her fourth straight double double. 1. Jaylen Brown’s ferocious dunk at the end of the third quarter.
The Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-99 on Wednesday at American Airlines Center to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals. The Mavericks made a furious comeback in the fourth quarter, but fell short after star Luka Doncic fouled out on a couple questionable calls that he really did not agree with.
The home crowd was understandably dead as the Celtics pulled away in the third quarter, which is when the Mavericks X account tweeted one of the saddest things you'll ever see. The X equivalent of "please clap."
This near the end of the third as the Celtics lead ballooned and Jaylen Brown prepared to put a stamp on a 35-19 quarter with a thunderous dunk that took them to the fourth with a 15-point lead. Meanwhile, back on the Internet, the team's post was getting roasted.
The funny thing is, it must have worked. During the break between quarters and the Celtics extending their lead to 21 fans must have had time to check their phones and get the message. What else could explain the team's 22-2 run?
Sure, they ultimately came up short, but what a social media effort. If there's ever been a case for posting through it, this is it.
Early in the fourth quarter it looked like Boston was going to cruise to a 3–0 series lead. A Derrick White three staked the Celtics to a 21-point lead with 11 minutes to play. The three-point line was hot and the Mavericks looked finished. Then P.J. Washington hit a three. Then Luka Doncic hit a layup. Then Dereck Lively II tipped in a miss. A 12–0 run cut the lead to nine with eight minutes to play. A 20–2 run made it a one-possession game with six minutes to play.
Doncic was hot. Kyrie Irving was rolling. Dallas had life.
With 4:38 to play, Doncic picked up his fifth personal foul. Bad. Fewer than 30 seconds later, he picked up his sixth. Worse. Dallas, faced with trying to complete the comeback with its All-NBA guard on the bench, crumbled. An Irving jumper briefly cut the lead to one but Boston quickly pushed it back up to three, then six, then eight. And that was your ball game.
“We had a good chance,” Doncic said. “We were close. Just didn’t get it. I wish I was out there.”
Said Jayson Tatum, “The game of basketball is about runs, and this is at the highest level. You know, it’s the best team in the West at this point. They are going to make shots. They are going to go on a run, and it’s just all about how do you respond.”
When Dallas surged to an early 13-point first-quarter lead, there was Tatum, scoring 20 of his 31 points in the first half to keep the game close. When Boston needed buckets down the stretch, there was Jaylen Brown, who scored 24 of his 30 in the second half, including nine in the fourth quarter.
It wasn’t a flawless game. Tatum struggled with his shot, finishing 11-for-26. Brown was 2-for-9 from three-point range. But they refused to get discouraged. It was Tatum’s driving dunk in traffic that pushed the Celtics’ lead to six late in the fourth quarter. It was Brown’s 21-footer that put the game away. For just the second time in Celtics history, two players scored at least 30 points in a Finals game. And when the final buzzer sounded, the two stars embraced near center court.
“Just you know showing the emotions of the game,” Tatum said. “Two guys that were excited, tired, that, you know, after the game. We’re not necessarily saying like, ‘One more,’ or anything like that. We are just saying, ‘However long it takes.’ Nobody is relaxed. Nobody is satisfied. Just at that moment, you know, just told him I was proud of him and he said the same thing. That we’ve got to keep fighting. We can’t relax.”
Role players have become the story of this series. For Boston, the first two games were dominated by Kristaps Porzingis, who returned from a 38-day absence to help power Boston to a 2–0 series lead. In Game 3, with Porzinigis out, it was White (16 points) and Sam Hauser (nine) making shots. Al Horford stretching out for 37 minutes. Xavier Tillman, playing his first minutes of this series, finishing a +9 in 11 minutes.
“I just think that top to bottom, we trust everybody, and we just compete at a high level,” White said. “Obviously, they are great players, and it’s a challenge but [it’s] just consistently being in the right position and just competing.”
Tillman came up big in Game 3, playing his first minutes of the Finals. / Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports
On Dallas’s side, it was more of the same. Washington chipped in nine points during Dallas’s fourth-quarter comeback but finished with 12 overall. Derrick Jones Jr. was a non-factor. Maxi Kleber, too. Jason Kidd dusted off Tim Hardaway Jr. for 20 minutes. Hardaway finished 0-for-5. In the first half, Kidd’s rotation went 11 deep.
“We were trying to find someone to come off the bench and give us a spark,” Kidd said. “It doesn’t always have to be someone making a shot. I thought the guys that played tonight helped us get the lead or get back into the game.
“When you look at some of the guys who played, we got good looks, some of them made them, some of them didn’t. I thought the group that played, once that third quarter got away from us, it just showed the group kept playing.”
In the conference playoffs, Luke Kornet gobbled up the bulk of the non-Porzingis minutes. In Game 3, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla went with Tillman, in part because of the ex-Memphis Grizzlies forward’s experience against the Mavericks. Tillman responded by knocking down a corner three in the third quarter and swatting away two shots.
“Big shout out to X,” White said. “To not be in the rotation but to stay locked in and he gives us big-time minutes. He just does a little bit of everything out there. Then he guarded his ass off and hit a big shot and rebounds, and he just did a little bit of everything for us. Credit to him. Great, great teammate, great guy, and he was big for us.”
The statistics say no. Of the 156 teams that have trailed 3–0 in an NBA playoff series, zero have come back to win it. The more pressing concern is if Dallas can avoid a sweep. Doncic struck an optimistic tone at his postgame news conference. “Being down 21 in the third game and then coming back was a really positive thing for us,” he said. And the Mavs did get a breakout game from Irving (35 points). But as talented as Doncic and Irving are, they are not getting enough help. And a Celtics team that nearly completed a 3–0 comeback last season isn’t sounding like one ready to let this one slip away.
“You have to expect the expected,” Mazzulla said. “You’ve got to understand we are just as vulnerable if not more vulnerable than they are. And we have to play that way. So as long as we have that mindset, and when you understand that you’re vulnerable and your back’s against the wall, you’ve got to fight. And so that’s the mindset that we have to have.”
The Boston Celtics won a roller-coaster of a game Wednesday night to take a 3–0 series lead over the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals. Jaylen Brown scored 30 points on 22 shots to go along with eight rebounds and eight assists, while Jayson Tatum scored 31 on 26 shots with six rebounds and five assists.
The Celtics dominated the third quarter with great ball movement, which Tatum pointed out on the bench during a timeout. Luckily, ESPN and ABC had the cameras rolling to hear the Celtics star tell everyone they shouldn't settle for step-back three-pointers, which is basically his favorite thing in the world.
“Don’t settle for the step back 3 unless it’s late in the shot clock, that goes for all of us, including myself.”
— Andrew Jerell Jones, Luke 1:37 (IG:twdbk3) (@sluggahjells) June 13, 2024
"We can get shots," Tatum said, "but we can get better shots. Don't settle for the step-back three unless it's late shot clock. That goes for all of us. Myself. Every time we drive we get a wide open three."
He was right. About the drive and kick, at least. He was certainly not right about taking his own advice as he repeatedly took three-pointers in isolation, which Doris Burke pointed out on the broadcast saying that if she were a teammate she would have given him the side-eye when he said that.
Tatum finished the game 4-of-13 from behind the arc. He is now 8-of-27 from three during the Finals.
Game 3 of the NBA Finals is crucial for the Dallas Mavericks, as a loss would all be seal their fate against the Boston Celtics in this series.
Trailing 2-0, Dallas is looking to avoid the dreaded 3-0 series deficit -- something no team has ever come back from in a seven-game series in the history of the league.
On the bright side for Dallas, oddsmakers have favored Luka Doncic and company at home in Game 3.
The spread in Game 3 has moved since Kristaps Porzingis was diagnosed with a torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon on Tuesday.
Porzingis is officially questionable for Game 3, and oddsmakers have moved Dallas from -2 to -2.5 in this game since the Porzingis injury was announced.
Boston has fared well without Porzingis this postseason, but he clearly makes the Celtics a better team, especially after dropping 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field in Game 1.
Can Dallas pick up a win at home to keep its chances to win the Finals alive?
Boston Celtics on the Road
Boston has dominated on the road in the playoffs, going 6-0 straight up against the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers. Can it stay perfect against the Mavericks?
The C's are 22-22-3 against the spread on the road in the 2023-24 season overall, so their playoff performance has been even better.
Boston Celtics as Underdogs
This is just the fourth time this season that the Celtics are underdogs, and it's the first time in five months that they have been in this spot.
Boston is 1-2 against the spread as an underdog in the 2023-24 season. All of those games have come on the road.
Dallas Mavericks at Home
So far this season, Dallas is 25-24 against the spread at home, but that number is slightly better as a home favorite.
The Mavs are 19-17 against the spread as home favorites, although they have lost games at home in every series so far this postseason.
Teams Down 0-2 in Game 3
Dallas is down 0-2 in this series, but there is an interesting trend dating back to 2005 for these teams entering Game 3.
NBA teams down 0-2 at home since 2005:
• 91-47-1 first half ATS • 66-70-3 full game ATS
The first half trend has been even lately though, going just 13-14-1 1H ATS since 2020-21 (3-4 this year) pic.twitter.com/ecnq7LaJoo
However, the Celtics are the best team in the NBA against the spread in the first half this season, so bettors may want to be careful about having to lay points with Dallas, who is a slight favorite, in Game 3.
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The Boston Celtics secured a 2–0 series lead over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night, winning Game 2 of the NBA Finals by seven on their home court.
After the game, Jaylen Brown linked up with members of the NBA TV postgame show for a quick interview, during which Shaquille O'Neal took the opportunity to offer him some "G-14 classification information," or advice regarding the NBA Finals.
"Jaylen, I don't have a question. But I'm going to give you some G-14 classification information, because this will be the last time you see me. It's a riddle; do not get fixated on useless titles. Do what you gotta do. Doesn't matter who's who, or they say who's what. It ain't time for all that right now. Do what you gotta do and get it done," O'Neal advised Brown.
Shaq: "Do not get fixated on useless titles. Do what you gotta do."@MattWinerTV: "That made sense to you?"
Jaylen: "No."
Shaq: "Okay well let me break it down... It don't matter who the man is!"
Matt Winer then asked Brown if that rambling made sense to him, to which Brown honestly admitted that it did not. O'Neal then proceeded to break it down further.
"They're trying to separate you and your guy [Jayson Tatum] by saying who's better... Don't worry about useless titles, it don't matter who the man is. Kobe's the man, Shaq's the man, it don't matter. I'm getting my 40, Kobe's getting his 39, let's go win a championship."
Ahead of Game 2, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd told reporters that he felt Brown was the Celtics' most important player, rather than Tatum. It appeared to be an attempt at some mind games from Kidd, aiming to pit Boston's two superstars against one another.
Although no one on the Celtics seem to have taken the comments to heart, O'Neal felt the need to offer his advice to Brown amid the outside chatter surrounding who truly lifts the team. Brown, though not quite understanding fully where Shaq was headed, politely accepted the advice from the all-time great.
Neither team shot the ball particularly well in Game 2 of the 2024 NBA Finals, but it was the Boston Celtics who emerged victorious over the Dallas Mavericks, securing a 2–0 lead in the series following Sunday's 105–98 win.
Jrue Holiday led the charge offensively for the Celtics, proving particularly effective from in around the rim as he scored a team-high 26 points on 11 for 14 shooting. Jaylen Brown played prolific two-way ball once again, providing lockdown defense while also contributing his share on offense with 21 points.
Jayson Tatum's shooting woes continued, but as has often been the case during the postseason, Boston's depth was able to help overcome that. Tatum shot 6 for 22 from the field, but was an excellent facilitator as he racked up 12 assists and added nine rebounds.
Dallas didn't go down quietly though. The Mavs cut a 14-point deficit into just five with around one minute left, but an emphatic Derrick White block put a stopper on the comeback hopes and capped off the win for Boston.
Kristaps Porzingis, who made his return to the starting lineup on Sunday, exited during the fourth quarter after suffering an apparent leg injury. He remained in the game briefly before checking out for Al Horford and did not return. His status will be something to monitor going forward.
For the Mavericks, it often felt that if Luka Doncic wasn't scoring, the team's offense simply wasn't functioning. Doncic provided 32 of Dallas's 98 points, shooting 12 for 21 from the field despite not being at full strength. Although he registered a triple-double in just the second NBA Finals game of his career, he also had eight turnovers in the loss, struggling to take care of the ball against the stalwart Boston defense.
Apart from Doncic, the rest of the team shot 26 for 59 (44%), including a woeful 2 for 17 (11.7%) showing from three-point range. Kyrie Irving had another lackluster performance with 16 points and six assists, marking his second consecutive game without making a single three.
The series will shift to Dallas for Games 3 and 4, and the Mavericks will need to get the job done on Wednesday if they want to avoid the perilous 3–0 deficit, which no team has ever overcome in NBA history.
Game 2 of the NBA Finals is upon us, and there are only so many more days that we can bet on the NBA this season, so why not take advantage of them with a few player prop picks?
Game 1 between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks ended up being a blowout, but it was an educational game in terms of how these teams are going to match up.
We learned that Kristaps Porzingis was going to come off the bench, Boston was going to play Luka Doncic straight up, and Dallas’ lob threats weren't going to have an easy time at the rim.
There is one prop I took in Game 1 – Jrue Holiday’s points, rebounds, and assists – that I’m going back to on Sunday night, along with two more plays to round out the betting card.
Kristaps Porzingis OVER 1.5 3-Pointers Made (-130)
Kristaps Porzingis came off the bench for Boston in Game 1 and dominated the game in the 21 minutes that he played, shooting 8-for-13 from the field and 2-for-4 from beyond the arc.
While he didn’t play his usual minutes, Porzingis still attempted the second-most shots on the team and was a clear focal point on the Boston offense.
I’m eyeing his 3-point prop in Game 2, as he’s had a ton of success against Dallas in this market this season. In his lone regular-season meeting with the Mavs, KP drilled four of his eight shots from beyond the arc.
Dallas switched a lot in Game 1, giving Porzingis some favorable matchups to shoot over smaller defenders. If that continues, I imagine he keeps letting it fly from 3. KP shot 37.5 percent from beyond the arc in the regular season.
Jrue Holiday OVER 22.5 Points, Rebounds and Assists (-120)
Jrue Holiday did a little bit of everything in Game 1, finishing with 12 points (4-for-9 shooting), eight rebounds, and five assists to clear his PRA prop of 22.5.
Oddsmakers are setting this at the same number in Game 2, and I’ll gladly take the OVER again on the Celtics point guard.
Holiday has now cleared this line in every game since the start of the Eastern Conference Finals and seven of his last eight contests while averaging 16.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game over that stretch.
There aren’t a ton of shots to go around in the Boston offense, but Holiday still got a decent share in Game 1 and did a lot of the dirty work on the glass as well. Until he starts missing this number consistently, he’s a must-bet for me in Game 2.
PJ Washington OVER 5.5 Rebounds (-135)
Dallas forward PJ Washington had a big game on the glass in Game 1 with the Celtics spreading out the Dallas defense.
Washington finished with eight rebounds in the loss, the ninth time in 12 times that he’s cleared this total (dating back to the start of the second round against Oklahoma City).
For the playoffs, Washington has just one game where he finished with less than five rebounds, and he’s averaging 6.8 rebounds per game overall.
Dallas needs him on the floor defensively, and this is a favorable matchup for him to hit the glass on the defensive end since both of Boston’s centers stretch the floor and aren’t always parked in the paint (like Rudy Gobert was in the Western Conference Finals).
This is a great number to land Washington at him Game 2.
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BOSTON – Jason Kidd made 10 All-Star teams during his NBA career, earning his place among the great playmakers with size, skill and, yes, smarts. Kidd saw the game better than most, still does. On Saturday, as Kidd’s media availability was wrapping up, he was asked a a boilerplate question about Jaylen Brown’s game.
“Well, Jaylen,” Kidd said, “is their best player.”
Boom, there’s your story. Kidd knew what he was doing with that answer. Of course he did. Few dynamics are more closely scrutinized than Brown and Jayson Tatum. Just last week, ESPN Zapruder-filmed a video of Tatum applauding Brown’s conference finals MVP win—not hard enough for their liking—to wonder if there was an issue. Brown is routinely measured against Tatum, two All-NBA wings, teammates, forever in competition. Kidd’s comment was less praise for Brown than a chance to toss a grenade into Boston’s locker room.
“J-Kidd, man,” said Celtics center Al Horford, laughing. “I see what he is doing.”
Indeed, everyone does. And why not? If there was anything learned from Boston’s 107–89 shellacking of the Mavericks in Game 1, it’s that in this series, Dallas is outgunned. Luka Doncic got 30 but he needed 26 shots to get there, while the Celtics’ ability to defend him straight up held Doncic to a single assist. Gone were the lobs, the corner threes that powered the Mavs through a rugged Western Conference. Instead, it was congested drives and contested jumpers while Dallas struggled to get anything past the 7’2” Kristaps Porzingis waiting for them at the rim.
“I thought we were too much one-on-one,” said Kidd. “We've got to move bodies. We've got to move the ball. Multiple guys have to touch the ball. We were just too stagnant, and that's not the way we play. We've got to be better.”
Kyrie Irving will be better because, for Irving, it couldn’t go much worse. Irving scored 12 points on Thursday, connecting on 31.6% of his shots and missing all five of his threes. Much was made of how the Boston crowd would respond to Irving on Thursday, and while there were the obligatory chants, all things considered the reaction was relatively tame. “I thought it would be louder,” Irving said. Many of Irving’s misses were off open looks and Dallas is confident if he gets the same looks in Game 2, those shots will go down.
“I mean it was our first time being together as a group in this Finals stage,” said Irving. “Experience is the best teacher at times when you don't know what to expect.”
Even if Irving is better, Dallas needs more. More from Dereck Lively II, the springy rookie who got off one shot in 18 minutes. More from Derrick Jones Jr., who finished 2-for-9 from the floor. More from Josh Green, who was 1-for-4. The Mavs committed 11 turnovers in Game 1, which led to 18 Celtics points.
“We've got to take care of the ball,” Kidd said. “We've got to make it easier for Ky and Luka. Being able to put those guys in different spots on the floor so there's a little bit stress-free so they can do what they do at a high level. We just didn't do that in Game 1.”
Kidd’s press conference tactic doesn’t appear to have had its desired effect. / Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Kidd created a firestorm with his lofty praise of Brown but inside Boston’s locker room, it isn’t going anywhere. For years the dynamic between the two has been scrutinized, and all it has done is make the bond between them stronger. They are very different people, Tatum and Brown, but they share the same goal. Six conference finals, two NBA Finals and all that matters now is that they don’t leave this one empty handed.
“This is a team sport, right?” Tatum said. “We understand that. We wouldn't be here if we didn't have JB on our team, and we can say that for a lot of guys. We have all played a part in getting to where we're at. We understand that people try to drive a wedge between us. I guess it's a smart thing to do or try to do. We've been in this position for many of years of guys trying to divide us and say that one of us should be traded or one is better than the other. So it's not our first time at the rodeo.”
Said Brown, “We've been just extremely focused on what our roles and our jobs are. We have all had to sacrifice. Jason [Kidd] has had to do that at the highest of levels and I respect him and tip his cap for it. Right now, at this point, it's whatever it takes to win and we can't let any outside interpretations try to get in between.”
Dallas wants Tatum to feel slighted, to overcompensate, try too hard to assert himself in Game 2. Not happening, Tatum says. Tatum wants to score but if the Mavs tilt its defense towards Tatum again, if they continue to load up, Tatum will keep the ball moving. He collected five assists in Game 1 and if more shots had fallen, he could have racked up several more.
“It's just about reading the game,” Tatum said. “Draw so much attention, you know, when I have the ball in my hands. It's about creating an advantage. We always talk about that, watching film, creating advantage, finding the mismatch that we want, and it might not always end up in the shot for you. Or if you set a screen and get a smaller guy on you, just having that mismatch and calling for the ball, right, it may draw other defenders to help, and we can pin in for somebody else to get a shot. Those things won't show up in the stats sheet, but it's part of our execution, and sometimes you have to make a sacrificial cut or things like that to generate good shoots.”
Even after years of success as teammates, after All-Stars and All-NBA teams, 50-win seasons and deep playoff runs, questions about Tatum and Brown’s relationship still linger. Only one thing will kill them off. On Sunday, Boston will look to move one win closer to doing so.
