Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics have demonstrated that they can win in a variety of ways this postseason. Although a majority of their victories have been blowouts, the C’s battled back in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday night, prevailing 133-128 in overtime against the Indiana Pacers.
However, so far in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, the Celtics have not demonstrated the ability to win Game 2. After leading 1-0 in each of their first two series, Boston lost Game 2. Tatum wants to avoid this sad tendency.
Following the thrilling Game 1 victory, in which 2024 All-Star Jaylen Brown tied the game with less than six seconds left in regulation, Tatum talked about how he and his teammates should avoid complacency in Game 2. “I think I come with the mindset of, ‘Don’t relax,'” he stated. “In the first two rounds, we easily won the first game. Maybe human nature had a hand in it.
But tonight, as a competitive game heading into overtime, they obviously feel like they should have won, and we believe we can play much better. So, I’m thrilled for us to respond and do a better job of guarding home court than we have in the past.”
While the Celtics left TD Garden with a 1-0 series advantage, they were mere seconds away from a devastating collapse. They led by as many as 13 points in the third quarter, but that lead swiftly faded down the stretch. All the Pacers had to do was properly inbound the ball with 10 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. However, Brown forced a turnover and then hit a monster triple to make the score 117-117.
On the next possession, Tatum locked up Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton to send the game to overtime.
“That shit was chaos. That shit was wild,” Tatum said of the rollercoaster finish to Game 1. “This core group has been in so many big-time games, big-time moments where we’ve had a lead and lost it and still won or been down a lot and figured out a way to win. I’ve had a lot of crazy endings in [TD Garden]. So, in a weird way, we’ve been there before, and we always believe, in a sense.”