The first game of the Celtics and the Nets series is the most exciting game since the start of the 2022 playoffs, and the gods on the field are magical, and the game is fierce until the second is a sword.
115-114, the last laugh is Tatum.
No, it's more accurate to say Tatum with his team.
When the suspense of victory and defeat was retained until 15 seconds before the final game, both teams had the opportunity to close the game, Irving broke through with the ball, and the Brooklyn singles prince scored 18 points in the fourth quarter, indiscriminately killing the earth, but this ball, the Celtics used the bag clip to defend Irving and forced him to pass.
It's a perfect personal chase and collaborative pinch.
Irving gave the ball to Durant, and although Adu's performance on 9-of-24 shooting was a bit hot-eyed, the "basketball death" is a presence that any opponent dare not ignore. After Irving's ball, the Celtics were too late to do a second bag, and the scene turned into a one-on-one arc between Tatum and Durant.
Tatum then defended Durant's shot. From team defense to individual takeover, the Celtics snuffed out the Nets' twins to take away their chances of victory. This is a defensive masterpiece that Tatum and his team, when it comes to a one-goal victory or defeat.
Then, it was the death, another perfect connection between the team and the individual.
Jaylen Brown's breakthrough compressed the Entire Nets' defense, Smart very cleverly flicked a shot to attract defensive attention and cleared the right wing straight down to the basket, Tatum took the ball and turned to cut into the clouds. For the first time in Tatum's career, the Celtics' first playoff whistle-blower since 2010 and the first home whistle-pressing goal in the team's history were born.
In this game, especially at the critical moment, the Celtics took out the most essential thing of basketball, the team attack and defense as one, and the individual attack and defense broke the game. With 31 points and eight assists, Tatum became the hero who killed the game, but he knew where success came from.
"I ran to the basket and Smart found me, I just made a layup, that's it." Tatum said.
Basketball is sometimes complicated, offensive and defensive play, teamwork, locker room atmosphere, etc., can be dazzling, but basketball is sometimes very simple, it is a sport about "chance", seize the opportunity, you are the winner.
But where did the opportunity come about?
Don't wait, you have to work your own, ignore the environment you're in, your age, and let it go!
This is the summer of 2018, Bryant told Tatum's way of fighting. Tatum is a die-hard Kobe fan, and when he was a child, he put posters of his idols on his bedside and dreamed of becoming Kobe.
"Probably when he was in the first grade, I asked him what his future ideals were." Tatum's mother, Brandi, recalled, "He said he wanted to be Kobe bryant and I said, 'You mean to be a professional basketball player?'" He said, 'No, I want to be Kobe.' ’”
That time in 2018 was the first time Tatum had come face-to-face with Kobe Bryant, who was so nervous that he fidgeted, and Kobe patted him on the shoulder to let him relax. The two talked for hours and were training together when Tatum had just finished his NBA rookie season and helped his team reach the Eastern Conference Finals to a seven-time loss to James's Cavaliers.
"Bryant told me not to let any difficulty become a stumbling block, what you need to do is to go all out and fight off all the challenges." Tatum said.
It is good to say but not easy to do, or it is okay in the short term, and it is difficult to stick to it for more than ten years. When Tatum was 13 years old, he began to receive special training from the famous trainer Drew Hanlon, and after the first class, Tatum's mother called Han lun: "You are going to exhaust my child, he can't walk." ”
Hanlon's training class is not only hard, but also boring, such as an hour and a half of repeated tentative step exercises, Hanlon told Tatum, Kobe, Maddie and Anthony, these stars, this is how to practice, the basic skills to build there is no shortcut to find, only repeated operations to form muscle memory.
Day after day of hard work laid a solid technical foundation for Tatum. During his 2017 Celtics draft audition, Tatum shot a 90 percent shooting percentage, much to the eye of then-team president Angie, but Angie still had concerns because some scouts pointed out that Tatum, who had only played at Duke for one year, was not very mature. Angie called Duke coach Shashevsky, and Shashevsky reassured the Celtics with a single paragraph.
"This kid comes to the stadium at six o'clock every day, and every player wants to be better, but there are very few who are willing to pay for it every day."
Tatum's upbringing in Boston validates what the coach has said about him, improving every season in five years, averaging a career-high of 26.9 points, eight rebounds and 4.4 assists this season. The Celtics did not have a good record in the first half of the season, with 23 wins and 24 losses in the first 47 games, less than 50% of the winning percentage, starting with Tatum's 51 points against the Wizards, he and the team took off together, the Greenshirts played a 28-7 record, the best team in the period, Tatum averaged 29.1 points per game during this period, shooting 50.3% from the field.
The Celtics' slow start was mainly due to the need to hand over some run-in costs between Coach Uduka's system and the players, and the second half of the explosion came from the development of chemical reactions and the driving force of the stars. Celtics, who are 28-7, are the first in the league in terms of offensive and defensive efficiency, which can be described as excellent form.
But the regular season is one thing, the playoffs are another, with the former highlighting team attributes and the latter focusing more on superstar problem solving. Tatum's career has encountered the situation of the opponent's powerful giant planet, James in the rookie season, the Nets Big Three last season, and if you want to break through the ceiling that has suppressed him for five years, Tatum needs to work with the team to raise the ceiling.
Against the Nets, the Celtics gave a strong team defense, especially against Durant, around the front combined with defense, from the top of the arc position to set up a heavy blockage, which is an extreme test of individual defense and rotational cooperation level, looking at the whole league can be so defensive Durant's team is not much, but even so, the Nets Twins still dragged the game into a second-high decider.
Then, there was the last 15 seconds of life-threatening attack and defense led by Tatum.
Objectively, Tatum's overall efficiency in the fourth quarter was not good, with only 1 goal in 4 shots, and the Celtics lost 10 points in this quarter, and they were supported by tough team strength. The 15-second game is certainly the highest-light clip, but before that, it was Horford who tied the score, and it was Jaylen Brown who scored a three-point shot and then scored a layup to narrow the point difference to one point, which gave the final 15 seconds of the extreme operation opportunity.
This is a classic team basketball as a basic game, the star life and death moment to solve the battle game, Tatum's personal ability to serve the team, the team's comprehensive attack and defense also serve Tatum, complement each other to forge victory.
"We have the best defensive player in the league, Smart, who sets the tone for us. In a game like this, together we found a solution to the problem. "The Nets made the last move, and we let them have a tough shot. It was a great defensive round, we did a great pack and protected the rebounds, pushing quickly forward. We all thought Smart was going to shoot, I subconsciously wanted to rush for the rebound, we made eye contact, he gave me a really good pass, I had to throw the ball in, it was crazy. ”
Yes, a crazy game, just like the Celtics' crazy second half of the season, but whether this madness can continue is still unknown, after all, the series has just begun. Durant is unlikely to shoot less than 40 percent from the field, and Tatum and the Celtics are just getting up the road to meet the challenge.
"If you want to pay tribute to Kobe Bryant, you have to be a really great player with the same work ethic, the way and the drive."
This is the comfort and encouragement that Angie gave to Tatum after Kobe's death, and the best way to miss it is to strive to be the best version of herself. Can Tatum, in his fifth year, do it?
This killing was the beginning of his writing of the answer.