Tatum and the Celtics have a Dukie in their shorts
Many will make a big deal about the game tying shot from Tatum over Lebron to send the game last night to OT. It was a good shot. Not great. Tatum was a little out of control, didn’t really find his spot, lose handle, but the kid is talented and there was still 15 seconds on the clock. If that clock was at 3 second? CLANG! Tatum doesn’t hit buzzer beaters. He’s hit 2. A layup vs the Nets last year in the playoffs (great team play) and three years ago against the shitty Knicks. This Lakers team is not much better and the Celtics still blew a 20 point lead in the 3rd quarter. Why? Tight butthole syndrome. Aka the got the Dukie in em.
I’ll give you this. The Dukie may be shrinking. It’s not a full log, but it’s not totally cleaned up either. We saw it first in Golden State. The Celtics’ buggaboo. The big brother. Jordan’s Pistons. Steph and the W’s brought Tatum right back to June of last year and the rest of the team followed. That hangover followed them to LA with a 20 point loss to the Clippers who are fully healthy for the first time in 2 years.
They really needed a win against the Lakers to salvage the West Coast trip and you could tell they knew it with the way they started the game. The Lakers looked helpless all the way until the middle of the 3rd. The Celtics offense fell back into old habits. They couldn’t put their foot on the neck, turnovers, hero ball, settling for 3’s, lazy perimeter defense. Next thing you know Lebron is turning it on burying clutch 3’s with 2 minutes left in the 4th. It’s a habit we thought this team kicked with the way they have started the season, but the Dukie clearly still lives.
The good new is, they made a pretty epic comeback down 10 with 3 minutes left. Some clutch shots (that were the result of the offense!) from Smart, Brown, and Tatum. The bad news? It was the Lakers. AD and Bron gave litterally everything they had to end it in the 4th. By the time OT rolled around they had to rely on Westbrook and well, he kinda blows.
The Dukie will be the final hurdle for Tatum to overcome. Not many if any players from the Coach K power house have been able to do it. Tatum has to be considered the most talented to hit the NBA at this point as the front runner for MVP. It’s time to buck up and wipe that Dukie clean.