The Celtics appeared ready to cruise to an impressive comeback victory early on Monday night against the Miami Heat, using a 37-12 first half run to take command of the game. Jayson Tatum sat on the bench for most of that run in the second quarter as a mix of Boston’s other starters and reserves played stifling defense and unselfish offense to erase a 11-point deficit despite playing without two usual starters.
The Celtics had pushed their lead up to 16 points before things went haywire in the final minute of the first half. A couple of ill advised Tatum shots and poor defensive choices by Tatum opened the door for a 7-0 Heat run to close the period. The run tried the Celtics lead to nine points and drew the ire of Joe Mazzulla after such a strong half.
The coach told reporters in Miami that stretch was unacceptable after the 103-85 victory and placed his attention on his All-Star for his poor choices.
“A lot of that was my fault,” Tatum told reporters in Miami via NBC Sports Boston. “I put us in some tough positions. He was just kind of letting me know that at halftime. I took it on the chin and just responded in the second half.”
Two nights after erupting for 19 third quarter points in Madison Square Garden, Tatum took his play to another level against a Heat squad that had no defensive answer for him. Miami trimmed the Celtics lead to just five points shorty after halftime but Tatum quickly put that rally to a halt with 20 third quarter points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field.
He went 3-of-5 from 3-point range during the stretch, punishing sagging Heat bigs on the pick-and-roll. Tatum also did a ton of damage getting to the rim, beating his defender and even double teams off the dribble time and time again.
Tatum eventually finished with a game-high 33 points after playing 21 straight minutes to start the second half, helping Boston cruised to their league best 22nd road win. The added workload (38 minutes) came despite Boston’s holding a blowout lead for the entire fourth quarter but Mazzulla elected to keep his star in until three minutes remaining in the game. Tatum took the challenge to heart and responded accordingly.
“I think the way we ended that first half, a lot of that was on me,” Tatum told reporters. “I didn’t have as much of an imprint on the game as I normally do in that first half. So just kind of time for me to wake up in that second half.”
The Celtics and Tatum will have one more game to close the first half of the season on a high note Wednesday night back at TD Garden against the Spurs.
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