TD Garden, Boston, Mass. — Jayson Tatum was interviewed postgame after the Celtics dropped an important seeding game to the Miami Heat. Tatum admitted “There’s a lot more I can do, I can just be better, especially from the start… it’s on all of us, but I just know, I know there’s a lot more I can do out there.”
Unsure of why Boston has been struggling with slow starts, Tatum said “I don’t know, maybe being too comfortable… clearly we know what it takes to come back… hard to pinpoint exactly why… if we knew why we’d address it, or change it.”
Boston suffered multiple defenses lapses, and it’s been an alarming trend overall on the season considering most Stevens-coached teams hang their hat on their defense. “Recent years that’s something that we really excelled at” Tatum said, “this year not so much… we’ve shown flashes, but just not been as consistent.”
The Celtics held tribute and declared May 9th Tommy Heinsohn day in memory of the Celtics legend. Tatum said “That time I got to sit down with him and listen to come stories and advice of his… once I got with the Celtics just got a much better understanding of who he was, what he accomplished… thankful that I was able to share some time with him in my first couple years in the league.”
On Boston’s rotations and finding some regularity with them, Tatum said “Due to injuries right now we’re still trying to figure it out… like you said, Ev has really been playing well, and Aaron has been tremendous off the bench – shot making and energy and doing little things… he’s definitely earned the time he gets out there… I’m happy for him… still has been a great teammate…it’s paying off…on the bright side of things, that’s someone I’m very happy for, just seeing him continue to grow and make the most of his opportunities.”
Boston came out flat in the first half and responded better in the second half, but it was too little too late. On this failure to come with the right mentality from the jump, Tatum said “Obviously we know how to respond… I guess the answer is it’s a choice… I don’t think that we’re necessarily good enough to just turn the switch on… certain games here and there we’ve done that in the second half and been able to win… obviously today we dug ourselves too deep in a hole… I know that we can do better, do more, especially in the beginning of games.”
When asked if defensive communication issues need to be addressed, Tatum said “Obviously we got some new guys that come from different systems and there’s an adjustment period… but really just watching more film together and learning from our mistakes… we’re not going to be perfect every possession.”
With the loss weighing heavy on their minds, Boston has to prepare for the Heat again on Tuesday in what could be a season-defining game. Tatum stated “Yeah we know what’s at stake… like you said, I guess it just makes Tuesday that much more important.”
