we noted after each of Boston’s first two losses to New York both of which saw the Celtics blow 20 point leads late former Duke standout Jayson Tatum isn’t meeting the lofty expectations placed on him, and the criticism has been relentless.
He’s hearing it loud and clear and often without much mercy.
Tatum likely gets it. A team like Boston isn’t expected to lose to New York in the playoffs, especially not by dropping the first two games at home after building sizable leads. In Boston, that kind of collapse is nearly unforgivable.
Speaking on Thursday, Tatum said, “I take full ownership of the way that I’ve played in this series and can’t sugarcoat anything. I need to be better, and I expect to be a lot better.”
He’ll get the opportunity to prove it on Saturday. If he steps up, the Celtics still have a path back into the series. But if he and the team continue to falter, they’ll fall behind 3-0 an impossible deficit historically, as no NBA team has ever recovered from that position
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