On the final shot of regular time, James' layup caused a foul on Tatum's hitman, and the referee did not blow the penalty. This miscalculation apparently kept the fans' focus back on the game itself. In fact, if the Lakers can play overtime with the first in the East, the anchoring significance has been achieved, which will enhance management's confidence in strengthening before the deadline. But after the Lakers lost this game, the record fell to 23-27, even if the threshold in the West this year is low, it is not a way to lie outside the play-offs for a long time, after all, no one can guarantee that James Mei will be fully present in the second half. Therefore, even if you ignore the grudge between the two teams and misjudge to lose a win, it is also very hurtful for the Lakers.
The result is already unchangeable, and both sides have to look forward.
For the Lakers, the game has at least two meanings:
The first is to remind management to re-examine the medium-term reinforcement plan and whether it is appropriate to use Beverley without moving. In this game, the last Lake Kai matchup was somewhat similar, the Celtics turned the situation around in the way that Cornet vs Wilson, this method will not only apply to the Celtics, there will be other playoff teams choose a similar plan, such as the Grizzlies, Warriors, Timberwolves. In fact, the Lakers themselves are the originators of a similar scheme (thick eyebrows vs. Wei Shao), and they have also seen the limitations of Wei Shao in the playoffs. Of course, the scale of the deal is not the same as the size of the deal between the power and the company, and the management will consider the problem more from the long-term plan of the team, and the impact of this focus game may not be enough;
Second, the Lakers should be more clear about what they can do. In a game in which Beverley's performance is closer to the initial expectations, the Lakers are also closer to this judgment - under the condition of James' health, after 1~2 key cards are started, the Lakers have the ability to wrestle with the top team.
For the Celts, that, of course, is still a cliché.
After the regular time call, I was thinking, what kind of plot will happen so that Tatum can save his wind review? If the Celtics win, don't think, Kay will definitely be bombed. If the Celtics lose, Kai will still be blown up by Kaimei himself. Anyway, no matter what the outcome, Tatum can't escape. In overtime, Tatum added another amount of material, but if the ball was not given to him, Jaylen or Brogdon, the Celtics could score. Tatum ended up dribbling to his feet, and his only athletic game in overtime was scored without the ball.
In several grudges this season, Tatum's performance has been very good:
In two games against the Warriors, Tatum shot 37.4% from the field and 52.7% from the field with 7 turnovers;
In the last two games against the Heat, one true shooting percentage was 33.9%, 5 turnovers, and one 7 turnovers;
Today against the Lakers, true shooting percentage of 49.5%, 6 turnovers.
A friend of mine summed up the "Tatum Key Game Assignment Metrics," shooting 7-19, 1-5 on three-pointers, and 9-11 on free throws. I'll make up one more, mistake 6. There are a few more such games, "the strong dialogue can only rely on the referee and Grandpa Niu", "the league forcibly makes stars", this kind of impression is firmly planted.
Pulling his crotch in this kind of topic bureau does make Tatum's beautiful data sheet under a large sample completely ignored. This season, Tatum is averaging 31.1 points per game and shooting 60.7 percent from the field, and among the top 10 players in the league, Tatum is averaging 2.9 turnovers per game, tied with Alexander and Mitchell. In other words, he is a player who does not make many mistakes under the large sample, but he is unsteady when it comes to the topic game. Is this a matter of mentality, or a technical problem?
A 2.03-meter tall forward, attacking autonomously at the three-point line, is inherently difficult to control mistakes, and this is not Tatum's own problem. In the first matchup of the Nets this season, in terms of mistakes, Durant and Tatum fed each other, and George Dove's silky hands and feet were even more routine. Tatum usually makes few mistakes because he doesn't have much time on the ball, and the team has three point guards, so he doesn't need to take on playmaking tasks. The team has excellent space, multiple points to catch and reprocess, and the ball can be transmitted close to the three-point line, thereby creating high-quality fixed-point opportunities, without the need to do difficult internal and external connections, and not much testing techniques such as emergency stop jump shots. It can be said that this style of play fits well with Tatum's skill set, masking some of his technical shortcomings.
When it comes to key games, the defense is upgraded and the pertinence becomes stronger, the ball is often concentrated on the number one star, and it is necessary to rely on the personal ability of the number one star to open the situation. At this time, how can the main attacker with a high chassis avoid mistakes?
If you have a very strong body that can keep the dribbling steady in a strong confrontation breakout, and can familiarize yourself with the position of your teammates and accurately find space when the opponent's defense changes, then everything is OK, and the breakthrough from the three-point line can still work well. But obviously not every striker has this ability, which is why low posts and off-ball have special meanings, and these tricks will help you get to the dessert area to catch the ball, rather than you dribble it yourself to increase the risk of mistakes. Of course, this process increases the passing link, which increases the risk of passing and receiving errors, but this is why good playmakers still have value even if they can't digest the ball in large quantities. For non-ball-carrying big-core scorers, it is necessary to have an assistant who can help them enter the attack radius.
The Celtics have such assistance, but Tatum lacks the means to catch the ball inside the three-point line and make quick shots. Some of the outside after the cover of the ladder and the catch of the three-point after the cover of the flare are not enough to support production, so even if Tatum has difficulty holding the ball at the three-point line, Tatum does not have much room for flexibility.
As mentioned earlier, Tatum's several famous crotch pulling battles this season, facing several opponents, the Warriors, Heat, and Lakers, have very similar characteristics. They are small, fast-moving, and rotate in place to chase the Celtics' shifting balls that create point-setting chances. The best way to break this defense is to play explosive power from a single point. If you can run the small one in front of you directly, or repeatedly pull a hand on top of his head, the speed advantage of the small ball defense is imitated, and the size disadvantage is magnified. Tatum didn't do exactly that.
Goods have to be thrown away, people have to be thrown ... I'm not talking about Jaylen, who can eat the basket with explosive power and shoot in the mid-range of the emergency stop, or Brogdon, who is better at positional breakthroughs and points, they are naturally less valued as the second and third main attackers, and if Tatum's comparison is them, he should not be able to reach the level of an All-Star starter.
I would say that the same top forwards, after watching James, and then looking at Tatum, will make some people worry about the top level of the emerging power in the league. Of course, you could argue that the two were not comparable in the first place, and Tatum was not qualified to compare at all. But since it is the star of the league, the participants in the top showdown should still put the gap more concrete.
There are two balls like this:
One is to break through Jaylen's forward confrontation against Horford;
One was James' shot to Beverley in the bottom corner after being surrounded in the breakaway.
In this game, against the Celtics' pile of muscle sticks, James only had 2 turnovers, in stark contrast to Tatum's performance against the Lakers guard. Tatum is an aggressive player who averages 8.8 free throws per game, but in a world of 95 points or more, aggression must be accompanied by the finishing stability of stagnant confrontations and the vision of the ball.
It's similar for Tatum to compare himself to the top stars who play jumper. The mid-range of the emergency stop, the low turning over the middle distance, are all pains that he can't help but say. His advantage is that he has the skill of 80 points in one hand and can participate in discussions on both topics. But in the world of the top stars, those guys have a skill of 95 points or more. You have to be prepared for this before you can get into their ranks.