Jayson Tatum Delivered An All Time "Fuck You" Performance To Singlehandedly Bury Both The Defending Champion Knicks And His Haters

Maddie Meyer. Getty Images.

Coming off their pathetic 22 point collapse in the opener and multiple days of endless Jayson Tatum slander, you could say the pressure was on with the defending Champs coming to the Garden for the Celts home debut. I wouldn't say it was a must win, but it was definitely a can't lose. They, and us really, needed not only a win, but a strong performance to both shut people the hell up, and remove the bad taste from our mouths following the Pistons loss. Plus, these H2H matchups against teams like DET/NYK/PHI etc all matter in terms of potential seeding tiebreakers, so even though this was only Game 2, it matters.

How did it go?

Giphy Images.

Much better. It may sound dramatic, but you could make the case that they saved their season. Imagine if Tatum had another stinker? Imagine if he didn't come through down the stretch and this team blew another late double digit lead to a contending team? If you thought that last 3 days were bad, it would have been 100000000000x worse. To instead get the exact opposite of that, with the team holding on and Tatum playing incredibly in the highest leverage situations, it just feels good ya know? This was the team and the performance we're used to, and frankly they still haven't truly played to their standard yet for a full 48 minutes.

There's no denying that as of late, the Knicks have become a bit of an issue for this team. Dating back to their 2024-25 playoff series, the Celts were just 3-7 in their last 10 against the Knicks, which you don't even have to be big on math to know is dogshit. Multiple blown lead losses, multiple chokes late, multiple losses on their home floor, it's mostly been bad whenever these two teams play. If the Celts were 7-3 against someone we would say they own that ass, so it's fair to say that entering this season, the Knicks have owned that ass. They talk about how they were built with the goal of beating Boston, and as of late that's exactly what they've been doing. 

That's another reason why last night was important. Yes, it's just the first of their matchups this season, but last year the Celts were 1-3 against the Knicks. It was important that in this new season, the Celts punch back. They're the defending Champs, many think they'll be the best team in the East this year, so to beat them in the type of game they thrive in (late close games) with the Celts franchise player out-clutching arguably one of the greatest closers we've ever seen (Brunson) in order to do it, I couldn't ask for much more than that. 

Their backs were up against the wall given the previous 3 days, and they responded in a big, big way. It wasn't always pretty, but I'll take it. Let's begin.

The Good

- I feel confident in saying that you will not find a player that breaks people's brains more than Jayson Tatum. It's fascinating. I don't know if it's jealousy, I don't know if it's just because he's a Celtic, I don't know if it's because he has given belt to all these people's favorite players for nearly a decade, but they simply lose their goddamn minds whenever the topic becomes Jayson Tatum.

I think it may just be they know the easiest way to go viral or have that dopamine hit is to just slander Jayson Tatum, but the amount of legit lying that goes on when it comes to who he is as a player is unlike anything I can remember in recent memory. Notice how it was all crickets last night compared to his stinker in the opener? That's how you know you're dealing with the actual Face Of The NBA. 

Advertisement

As we know, I have a rule for this blog. If you are someone who goes out and does some Larry Bird shit, you kick us off

What you saw in those clips was Jayson Tatum giving about as good of a "Fuck You" performance as we're ever going to see. The way people both online and the media had been playing around with his name following the Pistons loss was insane. You knew it was coming, but dear lord was it pathetic. So to come out and put up this type of performance and give a reminder to all of these morons that you are in fact THAT GUY, it doesn't get much better than that.

Here's what we have to remember when it comes to Tatum. He's an adversity hooper. When shit is looking GRIM and his back is up againt the wall where he's facing generational slander if he doesn't perform, he goes crazy. It's been that way for as long as I can remember. That's why his game last night was so predictable after the last 3 days. We've seen that movie before, and boy does it rock.

Advertisement

People forget, or maybe they just refuse to accept the objective fact that Jayson Tatum is one of the best clutch players in NBA history. This is simply not debatable. It is proven fact. 

He has one of the highest FG% all time in shots to tie or take the lead in the final 24 seconds in NBA history. He has multiple game winners, multiple clutch moments against good teams, and yet you see people try and convince you that Tatum is not clutch. They are doing what most do, which is lie and pretend as if his entire career doesn't exist. In reality, he's one of the best clutch-time players the league has ever seen, and last night was yet another example.

What we got, was vintage Jayson Tatum. A complete player putting up a complete performance on both sides of the ball. Once again leading the Celtics in points, rebounds and assists, just like he always does. The final 2 minutes with the score 99-98? He was perfect. He out-closed Jalen Brunson, which is nearly impossible to do. His shot profile was much better (back to 10 3s, good sign!), he finally got to the line a little bit despite still having a horrendous whistle, he took care of the ball, it was as masterful an all around performance as we've ever seen Tatum have.

Which is why it's still very funny to me that you'll see people say Tatum doesn't have "burst" or whatever the hell they want to go with as a way to cope with the fact that he's actually the same player he's always been. These losers so desperately want him to regress, that they are flat out in denial about what they're watching. Let's not forget, Tatum put up 23/11/7 on 60% TS% in the playoffs, and then had a full offseason. That guy was going to come back worse? When you say it out loud, all you can do is laugh. 

The shotmaking, the playmaking, the rebounding, the two way impact, there are few players in the NBA who are giving you this type of all around performance in any game, let alone against a good defense and the defending NBA Champs. This is the Jayson Tatum we knew we were going to be getting this season, so it felt great to actually get it in such a crucial game.

- I can't hold it in anymore. I don't want to hold it in anymore. 

I love Paul George.

I've loved every single thing about his Celtics tenure so far. Not a huge sample of course, but am I supposed to give a fuck about that? He's been incredible on both ends of the floor. I know he's not going to go 11-15 with 6 3PM often like he did against the Pistons, and I don't need him to. Why? Because even on a night where his shot isn't dropping, George is making a winning impact. He shot just 6-15 in this game but in my opinion, he was one of their best all around players

Advertisement

The defense, my god

Giphy Images.

it's not just the steals, which through the first two games have been insane

but to me it's more about his positioning, how he reads the floor and how crisp and perfect his off ball rotations have been. We all knew that his off ball defense was going to be an improvement, but this? This is even better than I expected. George has fit the system like a glove on both ends of the floor, which isn't exactly a surprise. Am I a little concerned that his entire shot diet has mostly been 3s and long contested 2s? A little, but so far that's been fine production wise. 

Knowing that Game 1 was a bit of a prayer, if you're telling me Game 2 George is closer to the George we can expect to see on a consistent basis, that's fine by me. Play great defense, hit your open looks, that's all I'm looking for when it come to George really. 

I consider it a win that against two tough defenses and two contending teams in the East, George looked this good on both ends of the floor. Who knows how long it will last, but so far, so good.

- Neemy had what I would call an interesting game. Some parts gross, other parts awesome. In the end, he was easily the best big of the three

Advertisement

The corner 3 was incredible, but that's only part of the story with Neemy, He was the only big who really provided any sort of consistent rim pressure, he's the only one who hit the offensive glass, and while I could have done without the keeper TO in the final minutes, I thought overall Neemy did his job on both ends.

I'm also starting to think it may be time to swap Mitch and Neemy in the starting lineup. I think we've seen that it may be the best for both guys to put them back into the roles they played last year. The offense with Neemy on the floor has a 120 ORTG, compared to just a 105 ORTG with Mitch. If you want to keep Pritchard off the bench, fine, whatever. But a big man swap is something that I think benefits everyone involved. 

- Given how poor they looked defensively in the 2nd half against the Knicks, it was nice seeing the Celts get back to locking in on that end of the floor. They allowed just one 30 point quarter in this win while forcing 16 TOs. They're still giving up a few too many FTA (21), but that's a more digestable number than the 32 against DET. Holding that offense to just 103 is nothing to sneeze at, and as we know defense is the backbone of every elite team. You have to be able to get stops. Shooting is going to come and go, but can you survive your offensive lull by locking in defensively and getting stops?

Those who do, win. Pretty simple. 

- I know people are raging about Jordan Walsh starting, but I think he's actually been more than fine in the first two games. His on ball defense was solid all night on Brunson (7-17), and you can see why Joe is maybe leaning into that skillset with the starters. He also was better about making his open looks in this win, and if that continues then I don't completely hate the decision. I may prefer Pritchard in that 5th spot, but Walsh hasn't exactly done anything to suggest he should be removed from it, which I consider a win. 

The Bad

- Second game in a row the Celts got worked on the glass, and if I had to pick one thing that has concerned me the most to start the season, I think I'm picking their rebounding. It's been awful.

The entire premise of this roster build and the Celts approach was to be elite on the offensive glass. Their plan to limit shooting variance was to just get the majority of their misses. So far? This supposed superpower has been nowhere to be found.

The Celts currently rank 28th in OREB% at just 25%. Very bad!

Luka Garza? He has a 27.3% OREB%. Very good!

Neemias Queta? He only has a 10% OREB%. Very bad!

Mitchell Robinson? He only has a 7.5% OREB%. Very very bad!

Yes, small sample blah blah blah and they faced two good rebounding teams. I get it. But that's also my point. Who do we think the Celtics may face in a playoff series? DET or NYK or a good rebounding team. So, to struggle like they have at dominating the offensive glass is a tad concerning. We all remember what happened in the PHI series when Embiid came back and the Celts rebounding advantage was taken away correct?

This is sneaky one of the underlying fears I have about the Celts approach. It makes sense, I support the thinking etc. But what happens when one of the cornerstones of your approach (OREBs) is limited by your opponent? It's not as if teams are just going to gift you OREBs, so if they take that away….then what? 

- I'm also confident in saying that my dick hasn't exactly been blown off by what we've seen from the backcourt. All of the concerns we may have around White/Pritchard in their roles are that when it comes to facing a big, physical defense, they seem to struggle.

White was better last night (5-11, 2-6) to go along with 6 assists, but it was another struggle for Payton. He did finally play 30 minutes, but finished 1-5 (1-3) and it never really felt like he was able to create advantages. Again, at this stage of the season we're just looking for things to put a pin in and monitor moving forward. I wouldn't say the early returns have been great when it comes to the two best guards on the team and their production against tough, long, physical defenses. 

To me, this could also be a case to get away from the staggering of Pritchard/Tatum and back to having them be on the floor together at all times. It's why I was so pro-starting Pritchard. The data with those two is simply too loud to ignore, and I think it brings the best out of both guys. So far the team hasn't done it, and I think they're leaving food on the table.

Advertisement

- It's not often the Celts will be outshot from deep, lose the FTM battle, and lose the rebounding battle and still win. This is what I mean when I said I still don't think they've played to their standard. They've been awful in all of the margin areas, which cannot happen. Last night, Tatum bailed them out. But you also can't rely on that shit every night. 

The strength of this team is supposed to be around the margins. Eventually, they have to get back to winning those. 

- I haven't exactly loved how this team has defended the 3pt line to start the year. The Pistons burying them from deep shooting 40%, the Knicks following that up by shooting 40%. This is the shit that usually gets them in trouble. It's why they're unable to get that secondary push once they get a lead to around 7-8. They IMMEDIATELY give up open 3s. As we know, you are not going to win many games letting your opponent make 15+ 3s a night while shooting 40%. It didn't bite them last night, but it will. We know it does. The Celts tend to go through these lulls where they just don't guard the line, and it looks like we're in the middle of one to start the year. That has to be addressed before it spirals like we know it can.

- Did I enjoy seeing a 10 point lead with 6:53 left get down to 1? Of course not. But I've seen enough of these Celts/Knicks games to know what the script usually is. We all know that no matter what happens, the game will be tight in the final moments and it will come down to who can close the deal. Coming off a 22 point collapse, it trigged me for sure. That's a game you shouldn't even have to sweat up 10 with Tatum coming back on the floor, and they immediately gave that lead away. Very annoying, and a tad concerning considering it happened in back to back games. 

The Ugly

- With Tatum back in the mix, we've seen a reduction in roles for both Baylor and Hugo. This is where I think it gets tough. When everyone is healthy and George isn't getting load managed, I'm just not sure where the opportunity for minutes is going to come from, especially if Jordan Walsh remains solid.

Baylor played only 11 minutes in this win, Hugo only 3. For two players I think we were all excited to see this year, unfortunately this appears to be the situation for the moment. Maybe you think there should have been less Sam Hauser, but he was mostly solid in his 22 minutes (+8), so I'm not sure who should have come out. We all want to see Baylor and Hugo do their thing, I'm just not sure how many opportunities there are going to be while everyone is healthy. 

Hugo basically gets one shift a game. Baylor gets two. That's bummed me out a little bit, I can't lie.  

In the end, a win is a win and boy was this a much needed win. Tatum shoved his haters into a locker, the team avoided disaster, and they finally beat the Knicks. Not a bad home opener, but it won't matter if they don't ride this momentum for the rest of the homestand. Games against the Bulls and Nets are on deck, so the opportunity to go on a run is there.