Six years, six Christmas Day video games.
As the Celtics have turn out to be a staple of the NBA’s Christmas Day schedule, Jayson Tatum is grateful to be a part of the league’s marquee custom. When his Celtics play host to Giannis Antetekounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday, Tatum may have performed on Christmas each season since he entered the league in 2017.
“I never take that for granted,” Tatum mentioned.
Sunday’s Celtics-Bucks recreation – scheduled for five p.m. at TD Garden – would be the third recreation of the day, and it’s the very best matchup on the slate. It will pit the highest two groups within the Eastern Conference – the Celtics retook the No. 1 seed on Friday evening with their win and the Bucks’ loss – and options two MVP frontrunners in Tatum and Antetekounmpo. It’s additionally a rematch of final season’s thrilling semifinal playoff sequence, gained by the Celtics in seven video games, and a possible Eastern Conference Finals preview.
Tatum has by no means performed terribly effectively on Christmas Day – the Celtics are 2-3 in his 5 video games and he’s solely averaged 19.8 factors per recreation, which incorporates 25 factors on 7-for-20 taking pictures because the C’s blew a giant second-half result in the Bucks. But the Celtics star is cherishing one other alternative to play on a giant NBA stage.
“It means a lot,” Tatum mentioned. “Everybody in the NBA has watched Christmas Day as a kid and dreamed of being in that position, so it’s become a tradition for me and for us, being able to play these last six years. It’s a big deal. It’s special. Everybody and their families watch basketball all day, so it’s usually the biggest matchups or games everybody wants to see. I’m always looking forward to playing on Christmas. It’s always fun, the energy and excitement around the day, just all the games in general.”
White locks in
Just earlier than opening tip on Friday, Tatum had a message for Derrick White, who was attempting to shake off an offensive rut.
“I just looked at him and said, ‘Be aggressive,’ ” Tatum mentioned. “He hasn’t been shooting the ball well, but we need him to be aggressive.”
White’s current taking pictures struggles have been emblematic of the workforce as he entered Friday 2-for-19 over his earlier three video games. But he appeared to take Tatum’s message to coronary heart. The guard attacked the basket with objective and was rewarded together with his finest offensive recreation in almost a month. White didn’t make a 3-pointer within the win over the Timberwolves, however completed with 18 factors on 8-for-13 taking pictures, which included making his first three pictures of the sport within the opening minutes behind a refocused mindset.
“I just tried to be aggressive,” White mentioned. “I feel like the last few games I wasn’t really involved, and I just wanted to try to be more aggressive and put my impact on the game a little bit. So I just went out there and tried to put that aggressive foot forward.”
There was one thing else completely different about White on Friday – the guard sported a brand new haircut. How a lot did that play a consider a desperately wanted efficiency?
“I guess all of it, right?” White joked. “I don’t know. Just tried to vary some issues up. …
“I thought about doing it earlier in the year, but then I wimped out about it and so I was just like, ‘Why not?’ And I went for it.”
Whatever the explanation for White’s efficiency, his teammates have been completely satisfied to see it.
“D-White is the ultimate teammate, somebody that everybody would love to play with,” Tatum mentioned. “Just letting him know that we need him and I love playing with him and I need him to be aggressive. I just love the way he came out to start the game, being aggressive from the jump.”
‘Best version’ revealed
The Celtics’ 3-point taking pictures troubles continued on Friday evening as they went 13-for-46 from lengthy vary. In their seven-game taking pictures stoop, they’re connecting on simply 28.9 p.c of pictures from deep. But Friday represented an essential improvement: they discovered find out how to win regardless of these struggles.
“To shoot 28 percent from 3 and win like that shows the great stuff we did on the margins,” Celtics interim coach Joe Mazzulla mentioned. “Free throws, not fouling, offensive rebounds, extra possessions.”
When the 3s weren’t falling, the Celtics attacked the ring and went 31-for-54 on two-pointers and have been rewarded with 26 free throw makes an attempt. They corralled 20 offensive rebounds and transformed these into 20 second-chance factors. A weak point for a lot of the season, the Celtics have produced 25 and 20 offensive boards over their final two video games – their two highest outputs of the season.
The Celtics suffered on just a few lapses all through the evening, however for essentially the most half, the depth, physicality and hard performs have been made that have been obligatory to beat their shortcomings and provides them an opportunity to drag away from the Wolves with their fourth-quarter surge.
“I think that what we saw in the second half of last game, and we saw tonight, is the best version of our team,” Mazzulla mentioned. “We simply should decide to that evening in and evening out. If we’re bodily and mentally harder and we work at it, the expertise and the whole lot else will handle itself as a result of we have now that. …
“The best thing I thought we did was we made tough plays. Driving to the basket and finishing with contact is a tough play. Passing the ball when you don’t have a layup is a tough play. Getting 20 offensive rebounds is the tough play, and I thought we did that.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com