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Winslow Townson / Associated Press
Although his uncle Drew is dazzling in the regular season, Kyrie Irving, the playoffs, is gaining momentum from all angles.
Irving acted very early and often during the Boston Celtics game 2 against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday. The Shamrocks needed each one of them because Victor Oladipo-less's Pacers were generally faster at basketball, behaved better in attack and played relentlessly on the other side.
For 47 minutes, Irving and the Pacers seemed to exchange their body shots until the final whistle. Then Jayson Tatum arrived.
The 21-year-old owned the last minute. His fingerprints were found on eight of the 10 points scored in this sequence, which turned a 91-89 deficit in Boston into a 99-91 win for the pre-season favorite, becoming the biggest joker of the Eastern Conference.
The corner of Tatum triple a delicious penny of Jaylen Brown gave the Celtics an advantage of 92-91 with 50.8 seconds remaining. The next time he gave Gordon Hayward a cup to push Boston ahead to 94-91. A horribly timed Pacers are mistaken later-The Wesley Matthews indoor pass was banned-Tatum sealed the victory by hitting home with a flush.
Bleacher's report @Bleacher's report
Tatum hits a three to give in advance to Boston, help to extend it and dunks to seal it
Celtics up 2-0 against the Pacers https://t.co/2OpDx2UKVh
"He made the right games," summed Celtics head coach Brad Stevens m said of Tatum.
It's the coach who speaks for: "We do not win this match without him." And the Celtics certainly do not do it.
They followed the example of Irving, but the All-Star six times could not do more. His staggering 37 points, seven assists and six rebounds barely moved at the last minute, with only one defensive score added to his score.
In other words, even with Irving at– or very close to-Its best, Boston could not get rid of the team neat but without stars. Three different participants, including Al Horford, who survived the disease, scored only four points in 37 minutes. The second unit only managed 21 points out of 24 shots, and Hayward scored 13 points on 4 shots on 7 of the field.
The Celtics have never been more effective than Tatum. And if Boston wants to spend a season of frustrating inconsistencies and chemistry never quite right to ensure that the long playoff series is so widely considered, it must continue to be an integral part of the formula.
Irving lives for this time of year. We already know it. Celtics support scorers are unstable from game to match. This is not new information.
But Tatum can be the exception when he plays hard. We should know that already too.
No player stock has seen a bigger jump in last year 's playoffs. In the spotlight after hurting Irving and Hayward, Tatum-Just a month late on his 20th birthday when these series started… Calmly took the keys to this attack and accumulated the most points in the playoffs for a team that lost a win before the NBA Finals.
"Circumstances do not affect him," Stevens told Sopan Deb. New York Times. "First game of the season, he is not affected by the nervousness that everyone has.Seventh match of a playoff series? Insensitive.At least he is unhurt and he can stand flourish in this environment. "
As young as Tatum is, Wednesday was already the 21st outing of her career in the playoffs. Some will say that it is not enough time to make a reputation in the playoffs. Maybe they're right.
But that would not make encouraging returns on his 2019 playoffs any less encouraging. In two games, he provided 41 points on 54.8% shooting and scored six of his nine long-distance looks.
"I'm really excited," Tatum m said. "It's the best time of the year."
Behind this mentality, the Celtics could be transformed before our eyes.
They will always be stingy in defense while Stevens pulls the strings. They will always have a wizard of isolation while Irving rolls in green and white.
But this is not a championship caliber offense without a Tatum-like-Or better yet, outperforming-The star we saw last season.
Assuming Boston get rid of Indiana, he should face a showdown with seeded Milwaukee Bucks and MVP contender Giannis Antetokounmpo. Find a way out of this series and possibly face the Toronto Raptors or the Philadelphia 76ers, two multi-stars teams.
Survive the Eastern Conference challenge and face the Golden State Warriors, James Harden 's Houston Rockets or whatever the Wild West sends for the championship round.
The Celtics do not make this trip without Tatum at its best. And to tell you the truth, it only says part of its importance to the organization.
He does not stick to the list of Celtics, it's because he's the asset of the commercial discussions with Anthony Davis and that the addition of Brow this summer would exponentially increase the chances of sending Irving away. But failing that, Tatum's development is still essential for Boston's future.
Perhaps he makes such a seismic jump in the playoffs that he forces Irving to stay put even without Davis's agreement. Or, if Irving actually leaves the company, the franchise may think that its next centerpiece is already in place.
Last playoff series, Tatum's put on the map with a race that opened his eyes. This time he could put the Celtics back into the championship conversation.
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