2:19 AM ET
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Tim BontempsESPN
BOSTON – Jayson Tatum had a simple solution for the Boston Celtics to recover with a win in the fifth game of the NBA Finals on Monday night – he just needs to play better.
“I mean, gift [the Golden State Warriors] credit, “Tatum said after Boston’s 107-97 loss to Golden State in Game 4 at TD Garden on Friday night tied the series 2-2.” They’re a great team. They are playing well. They had a game plan, stuff like that.
“But it’s up to me. I have to be better. I know I’m affecting the game in other ways, but I have to be more efficient, throw the ball better, finish better on the edge.
“I take responsibility for that.”
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Tatum has not played with the standard set in this series. He is throwing 34% from the field of play, and although he has had a great time in Boston’s two wins, accumulating 22 assists and four losses, he has nine assists and 10 losses in his two defeats.
Tatum, along with the rest of the Celtics, made a short run in the fourth quarter Friday night, making just two shots in the final seven minutes. This allowed Golden State to close the game with a 21-6 run, changing the result in their favor to tie the series.
“Obviously we put ourselves in a position to win the game,” said Tatum, who was 1 out of 5 in the fourth quarter. “There are a lot of things we wish we had done differently, especially on the offensive end. I think we got too stuck at the end of everyone’s quarter.”
It all starts with Tatum, who won MVP honors in the Eastern Conference Finals and is the face of the Celtics franchise. It has been shown as the opposite number of Warriors star Stephen Curry throughout this series, but on the court Curry has been unmatched.
Undoubtedly, this was the case in Game 4, when Curry scored 43 points, 10 rebounds and four assists and dominated every second he was on the court. Tatum’s night, meanwhile, was emblematic of Boston’s poor decision-making for much of the game. He had five losses and was a big part of the team’s stagnant attack along the stretch.
When asked if he is putting too much pressure on himself, Tatum said no and he just needs to get better.
“I think it’s as simple as it is,” he said. “I have to be better. I know I can be better, so it’s not like me, me or my team are asking me to do something I’m not capable of. They know the level and I know the level I can. a.
“It’s up to me to do it more often than not just help my team in the best way possible. It’s not too much pressure at all. It’s like my job.”
When asked what he has seen of Tatum so far in this series, Celtics coach Ime Udoka pointed to his search for fouls rather than trying to finish through contact.
“Sometimes he looks for faults,” Udoka said. “It’s a team that is loaded in certain games. It’s finding the way out. Shoot two or three guys. That’s the balance of being aggressive and choosing your places and doing what you’ve done in previous games, being kicked out and getting looks wide open.
“This is the current issue, so to speak. He gets to the basket, he’s a goal scorer and also a game creator. They do a good job with their rotations. Sometimes they hunt fouls instead of “I’ve seen it in a few games so far.”
To move forward, what the Celtics need to see is Tatum who appeared again and again in great positions before these playoffs, as did his 46-point effort in Milwaukee in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals to avoid the elimination against Giannis. Antetokounmpo and defending champion Bucks.
A performance similar to Game 5 in San Francisco on Monday night could allow Boston a chance to close out this series in Boston next Thursday in Game Six.
Tatum said he remains confident he and the Celtics can recover.
“We don’t do that on purpose,” Tatum said. “I promise you not. We’re trying as hard as we can. There are certain things we need to clean up. Obviously losses, movement on the attack. We wish we had won today and been 3- 1? That would have been best. .
“But it’s the finals. The art of competing, they came here with the feeling that they had to win. It wasn’t easy. I think that’s a little bit of beauty, it’s not going to be easy. It shouldn’t be.”
“We know we both want him and we have to go get him.”