Basketball is a team sport, but every squad still needs a go-to player in tough moments. Forward Jayson Tatum is that guy for the Boston Celtics, however, he did not fulfill his superstar duties on Tuesday afternoon during the Green Team's regular season-opener. When the C's began to collapse on the road against the Detroit Pistons, Tatum couldn't stop the bleeding in the second half. Boston ended up squandering a 22-point lead and falling to Detroit, 121-113.
Tatum finished with 13 points in nearly 38 minutes of play and was off the mark on 17 of his 23 shots from the floor. All 7 of his 3-point attempts were also misses and the six-time All-Star managed a meager 2 points in the entire second half. The Pistons outscored the C's 76-55 in that same half and took back the lead in the fourth quarter with 6:41 remaining.
"Definitely not one of my best nights," Tatum admitted in the locker room, via CLNS Media. "I just have to play better. Part of my role is scoring. So, I felt really good about a lot of those looks. But, watching film, probably slowing down a little in some of those moments to be better. But, it's more about just making the play, maybe for myself, but for my teammates."
In the first half, Tatum was largely making the right play for himself and others. He recorded 11 points and 6 of the Celtics' 12 assists at halftime. Boston's offense later grew stagnant, though, as Tatum rushed a couple of layups at the basket and often settled for tough jumpers.
What truly doomed the Celtics was a 23-0 surge from the Pistons that arrived in the middle of the final frame and lasted almost 5 minutes. Tatum's subpar shooting contributed to this run, yet he claimed the Celtics' spotty defense was the real root of the problem.
"I would honestly say it probably starts on defense," he replied when asked how the Celtics could've snapped the streak. "A couple of times we gave up an offensive rebound, they were scoring, we were fouling. That kind of slows the game down."
While the Celtics typically pride themselves for their work on the boards, they allowed 49 rebounds and corralled just 39 of their own. In addition, they gave up 32 free throw attempts — with 14 of those coming in the fourth quarter. Those frequent stoppages halted their momentum and dropped them to 0-1 on the new season.
"Early in the third, we were at our best when we were getting stops and we were able to push the pace," Tatum said.
Of course, it wasn't all bad for the C's. First-year Celtic Paul George posted a game-high 38 points to go along with 5 rebounds, 5 steals, and 3 assists. His near 40-ball marks the highest-scoring output in a Celtics debut in franchise history.
A better game from Tatum and a similar performance from George could be just what the Celtics need on Friday night at TD Garden to overcome their next opponent: the reigning champion New York Knicks.
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Jayson Tatum vows to do better after Celtics meltdown vs. Pistons