BOSTON – Jayson Tatum has played in the NBA for seven seasons. He’s played in an NBA Finals.
And yet, while he felt great during Game 1 of the championship series against the Dallas Mavericks, that didn’t stop the butterflies from creeping in.
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“To be honest, I was nervous. I ain’t going to lie. I was nervous in like an anxious way, as like a little kid,” Tatum said following the Celtics 107-89 win. “It’s surreal being in The Finals. When you’re young, I guess, in your career, you think you’re always going to go back. Last year was kind of like a wake-up call when we didn’t make it.
“So getting back to this point and being here is really a big deal,” he went on. “We played well tonight. There’s a lot of things we feel like we could do better. But it definitely does feel good to win the first game. But we know that two years ago (in the Finals) we won the first game and the outcome of that series. So we still have a lot of work to do.”
Tatum, who was averaging 26.0 points, 10.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists heading into the Finals, finished with 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting (3-of-7 from distance). He also posted 11 rebounds with five assists.
Asked how he’s able to deal with the pressure, and cope with expectations given what’s at stake, the 26-year-old Tatum said by keeping it fun.
“Just staying present, staying in the moment,” he said. “Like I said, I was, in a positive way, I was nervous before the game. I was like a kid first day of school. I know how exciting and big of a deal all of this is, so just finding a space to enjoy the moment and have fun playing basketball.”
