Bernie: A Look At Jayson Tatum’s Quest For An NBA Championship. Is This His Time?

The day before Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, Jayson Tatum was brought into the interview room to answer questions from the media.

The NBA star was wearing a St. Louis Cardinals baseball cap. As always, it looked good on him. And as always, Tatum was proud to represent the hometown he loves so much. The Pride of The Lou is Proud of The Lou.

Tatum is doing a fabulous job of representing the Boston Celtics. This is Boston’s fifth appearance in the Eastern Conference finals in Tatum’s seven NBA seasons. If the Celtics can slow the high-speed Indiana Pacers, they’ll advance to the NBA Finals for the second time in Tatum’s career.

The Celtics nearly went down in Game 1 Tuesday night, but recovered for a 133-128 victory in overtime. The home team was fortunate, but Indiana screwed up an almost certain victory. But the Celtics had Jayson Tatum, and despite an up-and-down performance, he came through with 10 points in OT to lead Boston’s escape.

It’s crazy to realize – again – just how young Tatum is. He turned 26 on March 3. And look at what he’s already done in the NBA.

Five All-Star selections. A three-time All-NBA pick. The All-Rookie Team at age 19 in 2017-2018. The MVP of the 2021-2022 Eastern Conference finals.

Over his seven seasons Tatum ranks sixth among NBA players in points scored and is a steady rebounder and source for assists. Tatum’s all-around excellence is easy to take for granted.

During his time in Boston, the Celtics rank second to Milwaukee in regular-season winning percentage (.650) and have won the most postseason games – 61 and counting – in the NBA.

And that leads me to another Tatum highlight: the way he’s moved up the charts to become one of the best players in Celtics franchise history.

– At age 26, Tatum already ranks 15th for most career postseason games (105) by a Celtic, and he’ll likely move up a few spots by the end of the 2024 playoffs. Yes, it’s true. Tatum has played in more than 100 postseason games and still has many years to go before he takes off the Nikes and calls it a career.

– Tatum is already eighth in Celtics history for most career postseason points. The seven guys ahead of him are Larry Bird, John Havlicek, Kevin McHale, Sam Jones, Paul Pierce, Robert Parish and Bill Russell.

– Tatum is ninth in franchise history for most postseason assists, and ranks 10th in rebounds.

– After Tuesday’s win over Indiana, the Celtics are 61-44 with Tatum in the postseason lineup.

Of course there is one gaudy piece missing from Tatum’s career. In Boston, the Celtics and their stars are judged through a narrow lens: how many championship rings? The Celtics have won 17 NBA titles, and the standards are extremely high.

Tatum’s points and assists and rebounds and regular-season wins are respected and admired … but where’s the ring? That’s just how it is for an NBA star who works for the Celtics. Boston’s two leaders – Tatum and Jaylen Brown – are still hunting for their first championship prize, and they won’t stop hearing about it until they get it. And if they win one NBA title, the conversation will immediately shift to: “When ya gonna win another one?”

There have been postseason stumbles along the way. Tatum may be one of the 10 best basketball players in the world, but they are 1-3 in the Eastern Conference finals and 0-1 in the NBA championship series with Tatum as the hub.

This is nothing new. The quest for a first career championship can be challenging and frustrating. LeBron James didn’t win his first NBA title until his ninth season. Michael Jordan got it done in his seventh season – the same spot where Tatum stands now. Wilt Chamberlain won an NBA championship in his eighth season. Oscar Robertson didn’t win a ring until his 11th campaign. It took Jerry West 12 seasons. And so on.

Tatum understands what’s at stake and is comfortable with the inherent pressure. It’s part of the deal in Boston – no retreat, no surrender. He wants a championship as much as everyone else does. But the highly mature and professional Tatum can’t let that get into his head. It won’t help the mission, and no one demands more from Tatum than Tatum himself.

“I’m not trying to prove anything individually,” Tatum said before the ECF. “I know the ultimate goal is to try to win a championship, but one step at a time.”

Game 1 had a little bit of everything for Tatum and the Celtics. They blew a big early lead. They blew a big third-quarter lead. They were barely hanging on, just about to go down, when the Pacers (among other terrible errors) turned the ball over on a failed inbounds play. That gave Jaylen Brown a chance to swoosh a perfect three-point prayer to tie the game and send it to extra time.

“JB gave us a second chance by hitting that shot,” Tatum said. “And we just talked about it in the huddle, like, ‘We got a second chance. Let’s take advantage of it. Let’s not mess around and just figure out a way to win this game.’ ”

Tatum took it from there. His 10 points in overtime were the most by an NBA player in a postseason OT since 2021. He finished Game 1 with 36 points 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.

The 36 points were the most for Tatum so far this postseason. When he was on the floor, the Celtics outscored the Pacers by 20 – giving him the best plus-minus by a Boston player in Game 1.

Tatum had a disastrous turnover in overtime that threatened to doom the Celtics. With Indiana pressing the ball, there was a mix up in communication and Tatum threw a pass to … well, no one.

“I’m so glad we won the game because I would have been sick,” Tatum said. “That was on me. But we just talked about it for a quick second, and there was still a lot of time left to try to figure out how to win the game.”

Tatum has been struggling with his three-point accuracy and that continued Monday when he made only two of eight shots from distance. But he buried a hugely important three pointer in overtime to all but put the Pacers to bed.

Boston made only 15 of 45 from deep. Defensively the Celtics had trouble with Indiana’s team speed, constant churning motion, and the effective attempt to turn Game 1 into a track meet. The Celtics can play fast … but probably not this fast.

Indiana’s frenetic style took the Celtics out of rhythm. The Celtics weren’t sharp. They probably underestimated Indiana’s resolve. Boston’s de facto center Al Horford missed nine of 12 three-point shots and was repeatedly exploited defensively on pick-and-rolls.

Boston had the lead for 38 minutes and 48 seconds – compared to 9:24 for Indiana – but it didn’t seem that way while watching it live. The helter-skelter nature of Game 1 made the Celtics uncomfortable. They’ll have to adjust.

But in overtime the Pacers lost their composure. They missed six of their eight shots and turned the ball over three times. Indy was clearly frazzled after failing to close out the Celtics late in the fourth quarter.

The Celtics prevailed because of Jrue Holiday’s all-around brilliance, Brown’s defeat-defying shot, and Tatum’s will to stay strong mentally to score 10 of his team’s 16 points in overtime.

“Big-time players make big-time plays,” Tatum said. “Simple as that.”

Thanks for reading …

–Bernie

A 2023 inductee into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Bernie hosts an opinionated and analytical sports-talk show on 590 The Fan, KFNS. It airs 3-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 4-6 p.m. Friday. Stream it live or access the show podcast on 590thefan.com or through the 590 The Fan St. Louis app.

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For weekly Cards talk, listen to the “Seeing Red” podcast with Will Leitch and Miklasz via 590thefan.com or through your preferred podcast platform. Follow @seeingredpod on Twitter for a direct link.