OK, it’s an old joke. But while the Celtics finally defeated the Golden State Warriors in overtime last night, it was impossible to ignore the difficulties that Jayson Tatum once again had against the reigning NBA champions.
After setting a record for most turnovers in a postseason last year – Tatum had 23 turnovers in the six game series against the Warriors alone and a whopping 100 in 24 postseason games – Tatum turned the ball over a game-high seven more times in last night’s win. He has also shot just 15-for-48 in two games against Golden State this year, though that hardly seems as hurtful as the seven turnovers (and nine overall in two regular season games this year).
Someone else can always score, after all.
But the turnovers, they’re double hurtful, as evidenced by the turnover by Tatum that led to Steph Curry’s half-court 3-pointer at the end of the half last night. Turnovers like those are a five- or six-point swing.
Here is a look at all seven Tatum turnovers last night, which included a healthy range of bad passes, bad decisions and traveling violations:
