We’re again as soon as once more with one other version of the CelticsWeblog Participant of the Week, and it will be onerous to attract up a circumstance extra completely different than we noticed final day out. The Celtics adopted their sterling 3-0 Opening Week by getting caught within the mud, to an extent. A promising first quarter on Monday night time in opposition to the Chicago Bulls gave method to disappointing blowout defeat, adopted up by an extra time defeat in opposition to Cleveland that noticed a leaky protection give up 132 factors. Lastly, on Sunday night time, they snapped their mini-skid, locking down a streaking Washington Wizards offense to rally to 4-2 on the brand new season.
So, who had been our standouts for the week? Let’s get into it with the runners-up.
Honorable Mentions
Being a little bit of a tricky week for the Celtics, the record of compelling candidates for this week’s Participant of the Week award was equally sparse. Nonetheless, there are a couple of gamers value highlighting right here. Jaylen Brown was, as soon as once more, one stinker (an 8-of-23 efficiency in opposition to Chicago) in need of maybe claiming the crown. Malcolm Brogdon had his “welcome to Boston” second at dwelling in opposition to the Wizards on Sunday, scoring 23 factors in as many minutes within the blowout win. Luke Kornet (!) made his season debut, and seemed the a part of a attainable rotation contributor throughout his minutes in opposition to Cleveland and Washington. He even hit a sidestep three??
It’s nonetheless, nonetheless, a scant record, which implies our alternative for the week was left pretty clear.
CelticsBlog Participant of the Week #2: Jayson Tatum
27 PPG, 52% FG, 48% 3PT (8 3PA), 94% FT (5 FTA), 6 RPG, 4 APG, -8
Maybe this isn’t probably the most thrilling decide. In spite of everything, I’ve all the time espoused the worth of highlighting lower-profile contributions to the crew’s success on a week-to-week foundation. Not solely are we not doing that right here, we’re awarding the crew’s greatest participant for the second consecutive week to open the season. That’s uncharacteristic for this column.
Basic distaste for a repeat winner apart, a shaky week mixed with Tatum’s all-around dominance, make him a reasonably straightforward alternative right here.
We are able to begin with the “wow!” stat proper up prime: Tatum is the one participant averaging 30 factors per sport on 50/40/90 capturing in the whole NBA. That’s, suffice it to say, completely ludicrous. Tatum is carrying his typical huge workload, however he’s doing so with unfathomable effectivity. It’s solely been six video games, and these sorts of comparisons are silly, however — that is the stuff the Kevin Durant MVP season was fabricated from.
The large distinction between what we mentioned right here final week in comparison with now’s the three-point capturing. After beginning the 12 months with a pair of 2-for-7 video games from behind the arc, Tatum has gone nuclear. He’s made 16 threes in his previous 4 video games, and throughout the three matchups that counted for this week’s consideration, he related on 48% of his makes an attempt. The early-season struggles of the previous two years have been a factor of the previous.
His first quarter in opposition to the Wizards was excessive comedy. The Celtics’ first 23 factors had been accounted for solely by both Tatum or Jaylen Brown, and the duo mixed for 27 of the crew’s 35 factors within the body. He opened up the sport with a pair of three-pointers, and, after tagging out with Brown for a couple of possessions, related on his third straight shortly thereafter.
By and huge, there’s principally nothing Tatum isn’t doing nicely proper now. It’s a kind of magical stretches of basketball the place it appears like a participant can do just about something, and it’ll nonetheless work out. Up to now, it has.
It could not have been as profitable per week as anybody would have appreciated — that is the primary Participant of the Week winner to report a unfavorable plus-minus for the week, although that’s due in no small half to the Celtics’ blazing scorching second half final season — however on the finish of the day, the Celtics are sitting at 4-2, and it’s the play of their MVP candidate that has them there. So in the intervening time, he hangs onto his crown.
Trying forward, the Celtics have one other three-game week forward of them — all on nationwide tv, and that includes two possibilities for revenge. First, they’ll head to Cleveland for a highway tilt in opposition to the upstart Cavaliers on Wednesday night time, earlier than returning dwelling to host the Chicago Bulls at TD Backyard on Friday. Lastly, they’ll shut out the slate with the second half of a back-to-back, delivery all the way down to the opposite Backyard for his or her first matchup with the New York Knicks of the brand new season on Saturday night.
Will we see a brand new title on this house subsequent week or will Tatum proceed to scorch the nets as he has by the primary six video games? Hold forth within the feedback beneath together with your ideas.
