POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE: Jayson Tatum on his dominant 38-point performance vs. Pacers

POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE: Jayson Tatum on his dominant 38-point performance vs. Pacers

You guys were kind of like a little lost in that game really tight and just hit a ton of shots got a ton of rebounds like really put your stamp on each so uh when you get like to a game like this the back to back you guys are struggling

This point of the Season Do You Feel Like These Are the nights where it’s like all right I see that my back just go for it uh no I mean I don’t look at it that way it’s just finding ways to be aggressive um we did a really good job

And it started at fourth of just getting stops um um pushing the paac and um finding matchups reading the game you know um so you know I I mean I I was hitting shots but you know I didn’t go out there and I was like you know I need to put

The team on my back it was just I need to make plays and you know that’s for myself or for other guys um so be it you said finding match ups obviously they were without two of their best defenders and brown and that heart tonight is that

A big part of strategy for you guys is you know Bic finding the best possible match up I guess maybe some level avoiding Smith when you could going after the other options uh not not really like avoiding guys I don’t look at it that way like I’m not trying to

Avoid anybody but um you know play in space um playoff actions playoff Closeouts you know you don’t want to just come down and you know um be the only one who dribble touch the ball and ISO right just there ways um around that um so I’m not trying to avoid anybody

But you know playing space play off Closeouts um play off our actions and you know playing Rhythm just feels like you’re taken for granted sometimes everything you do for this team do you feel that way what’s kind of your view uh I mean depend on who you ask um

And I don’t really look for um you know look for that praise I guess anymore I’ve I’ve accomplished a lot lot in this league and U you know truly at the point where uh you know I want to get over that hump I want to get

Back to the finals I want to help us win a championship and uh you know what I’m doing may not you know I might not win MVP but uh you know just trying to help us continue to be the best team in the league um and you know do my part if

People recognize that they see it then you know I appreciate it but uh if they don’t and you know that’s okay kind of along those lines you also said your your game has grown I think were exponentially in the last month how you seame grow last month yeah just

Uh like I I said earlier just reading the game um you know me and Joe we watch a lot of film um together and you know just how can I affect the game how can I manipulate the game and it’s a lot of progressions right and I said to off

Ball flash for D white in a row and they don’t know how to guard it because they don’t want to switch you know um and we get two open threes you know I won’t get that won’t go into stat book for me but you know then I see how they want to

Change up how they’re covered you know guarding me and things like that afterwards and you know just playing like mind games like that throughout the game um and learning how I can still uh you know create opportunities for myself and my teammates what do you think is

The thing that’s really changed in this last month is like full season you’ve been good that when you see the Trap coming on that Ro but like what are some of the things that are new that you’re really nailing down this last month or

So uh I mean you know you just uh you should you should get better as the season goes on right play a lot of games you don’t want to be at your best on in October you know you you you want it to be a progression um you’re going to make

Mistakes but learn from them play through them and correct them um and hopefully you know a month from now I’m playing better than I am right now and you’ve been making the right play over and over I me just kind of giving up the

Ball a lot of the time there’s a play in the fourth quarter where you drove into the paint and there was an open shooter but he just went through the layup anyway see he just wanted to kind of really control that play are there moments where it’s like you want to make

You know the pass of the open shooter but sometimes you’re like I just got to get it done on this one just to feel like that energy and release it uh I mean that’s basketball is instincts right um and you you know there’s a lot

Of there’s a lot asked of myself um and you know there’s always you know you can always go back and press pause and you know say what you should have done or somebody can point out what you should have play you should have made but in

That moment right you got to make the best decision and uh you know it’s all about making the right play and sometimes the right play is being you know selfish at the time and going to the real um and that’s just the decisions that you have to make in those

Moments um uh you know throughout the game you youed Elite level consisten uh I think so first team all NBA two years in a row so that’s kind of consistent about what you guys were able to do defensively keeping them to a season low really limiting Tyrese being

The Eng of the team yeah I mean you really got to lock in uh this is a really good team they’ve been playing really well uh and they just play with so much energy and you know Tyrese is the the head of that snake uh you know how

Much space and Pace that they play with and um how unselfish they are and they just they never really hold it they just keep moving so um you never can relax you always got to be on the string with your teammates and talking uh so it’s

Like a real it’s a group effort um don’t turn the ball over things like that relax huh no I love it uh I’m really really happy for him uh you know didn’t get much of an opportunity when he was here uh but to see where he’s grown and how

Much you know he’s worked on his game and he’s got an opportunity and ran with it uh you know he’s a big part of the success that they’re having um I love it I love playing against him um I love competing against him and uh I’m happy

For him what impress you about him when he was in Boston out to you you knew how to go up against practice and everything talk lot about competive nature and also that uh he really loved the game that he really worked hard uh and that

Was that was special to see that even he wasn’t you know playing uh as much as he wanted to or get an opportunity that he was always coming in to work uh putting in the extra time in the waight room and in the gym and and uh he was always

Asking questions and you know when he did get opportunity um he played as hard as anybody could play so you always could see that you know once the game kind of slowed down for him and he could you know start to figure things out and

How he could be effective um you know he would find a spot in his lead’s rebounding energy was big in fourth quarter how happy were you to see him like a game back uh I was extremely happy for him uh just building off of

What he did last night in Utah um I know it was a blowout but you know um I can only imagine you know team trading you get to come back and you know you want to play good against them you want to beat him and uh he was a big part of the

Success that we had in that fourth quarter um just creating second and third chance opportunities for us uh so you know that was big for us presented by your New England Ford dealers built for America built Ford proud

Listen to what Jayson Tatum had to say after he led the Celtics’ past the Pacers for a 118-101 win.

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