Can the Celtics win it all without Jayson Tatum being their best player?
.The Boston Celtics are into the NBA Finals after a sweep of the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. On Tuesday’s Felger and Mazz, the guys discuss whether the Celtics can win the NBA Finals if Jayson Tatum isn’t their best player on the court night in and night out.
Felger: Can the Celtics win a title without Jayson Tatum being their best player, because he was not their best player in this round and maybe not even in these playoffs?
Mazz: Yes. Yeah, definitely. I mean, I think their depth, I think you saw it in this in the Indiana series. Tatum, as you said, was not terrific. He was awesome in game three, let’s get that out of the way. I thought that might have been the best playoff game he’s ever played on both ends. All around, no turnovers, and I know he’s had a couple of 50 point games in there, I’m talking about the whole entity, OK. It might have been the best playoff game of his career. So I thought he was terrific in that game. But I think they were a better team when they’re getting contributions from everybody. One of the biggest buckets of the game last night was Derrick White from the corner. So like, I like them playing like this. To me, this is the way they should play. I like them playing like this. And frankly, they don’t function well in that iso when one guy just dribbles there because they all just stand around, nobody cuts, nobody moves, you know, there are a couple of guys that are more comfortable with that sort of thing. I think Holiday and Derrick White in particular. But last night when Tatum missed the jumper at the end of the game from the left elbow there. Holiday had the presence of mind to crash and get the rebound. So like there are guys that recognize they don’t have to make the bucket to have an impact. And I think those guys have rubbed off and some of the other guys on the team, they’re better if Tatum is not the clear number one option.
