{"id":71123,"date":"2024-01-03T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-03T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.celticsblog.com\/2024\/1\/3\/24023477\/boston-celtics-jayson-tatum-oklahoma-city-thunder-shai-gilgeous-alexander-kristaps-porzingis"},"modified":"2024-01-03T17:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-01-03T17:00:00","slug":"jayson-tatum-shows-off-two-way-dominance-in-celtics-loss-to-thunder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/03\/jayson-tatum-shows-off-two-way-dominance-in-celtics-loss-to-thunder\/","title":{"rendered":"Jayson Tatum shows off two-way dominance in Celtics loss to Thunder"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Zach Beeker\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Boston superstar is back to his usual self.<\/p>\n

Down 18 points with 8:25 left to go in the fourth quarter, the Boston Celtics<\/a> looked done. The Oklahoma City Thunder had played a near-perfect game all night, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was completely dominant, and the Celtics<\/a> could barely make a layup.<\/p>\n

From that point on, Boston went on a 33-19 run to close the game, bringing themselves within striking distance. A game that was wholly out of reach was a two-possession contest within six minutes.<\/p>\n

And on a night when Jaylen Brown failed to find his footing, it was Jayson Tatum who stepped up and led the team in a way he hasn\u2019t in weeks.<\/p>\n

For the past few weeks, Tatum\u2019s shot selection has been called into question at times. His pull-up threes have cost the Celtics in big moments, and of the 16 players who have shot at least 100 of them this season, he\u2019s the only one shooting below 30% (29.7%).<\/p>\n

Against the Thunder, Tatum put his shot selection aside in favor of acting at the Celtics\u2019 offensive hub \u2014 a role he\u2019s shown flashes of getting back to in recent wins over the LA Clippers and Detroit Pistons<\/a> but hadn\u2019t fully recommitted to.<\/p>\n

Rather than settling for big-swing shots early-on, Tatum found his teammates. Instead of trying to immediately pull-up from three to get in a rhythm, he let the ball find him within the flow of the offense. And when it came time for him to step up in the clutch, that\u2019s exactly what he did.<\/p>\n

In the fourth quarter against Oklahoma City, Tatum put up eight points, three rebounds (including two on the offensive end), and four assists while shooting 3-of-6 from the field. He consistently created space for his teammates to work and made the right read.<\/p>\n

With just over 40 seconds left in the game, Tatum came off a brush screen from Kristaps Porzingis, got two Thunder defenders to show, and found Derrick White in the corner for a huge three.<\/p>\n

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