It seems the Celtics don’t really care who their best player is. After Mavericks coach Jason Kidd tried a bit of psychological warfare over the weekend by suggesting that it’s Jaylen Brown rather than Jayson Tatum, Boston responded with a stellar team effort Sunday night to claim a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals, writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
Brown contributed 21 points, four rebounds and seven assists, while Tatum suffered through another poor shooting night at 6-of 22 from the field but barely missed a triple-double with 18 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists. Jrue Holiday led the team in scoring with 26 points while grabbing 11 rebounds, and Derrick White chipped in 18 points and five boards.
“I’m really tired of hearing about one guy or this guy or that guy and everybody trying to make it out to be anything other than Celtic basketball,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Everybody that stepped on that court today made winning plays on both ends of the floor. (That) is the most important thing.”
Though Tatum typically carries the scoring load, Weiss notes that Mazzulla’s strategy for Game 2 was to have him draw double teams in the post and find teammates cutting to the basket. Dallas tried to clog the middle and shut off passes to three-point shooters, but that often left Holiday with a clear path to the rim. Holiday weighed in on the controversy that Kidd tried to create, saying he enjoys playing alongside Tatum and Brown.
“So just to address the comment yesterday, I do not prefer one or the other. I prefer both,” Holiday said. “Both of them are superstars, and it’s being shown out here on the biggest stage in the world.”
There’s more from Boston:
- Holiday deserves consideration in any debate about the Celtics’ best player, observes Matt Finn of The Boston Globe. In addition to his scoring and rebounding, the veteran guard played his usual relentless defense on Sunday, limiting Kyrie Irving to a 7-of-18 night from the field and making Luka Doncic earn all 32 of his points. Holiday also brings a championship pedigree to Boston’s backcourt after winning a title with Milwaukee in 2021. “He has that experience, that just championship DNA, which you hear all about all the time,” White said. “You don’t really know what it takes until you do what it takes. Just the moment he came to our team in training camp, he kind of just had that presence about him. He just knows how to win.”
- Kristaps Porzingis isn’t concerned about his right leg after tweaking it late in Sunday’s game, per Souichi Terada of MassLive. Porzingis returned for the Finals after missing more than a month with a right calf strain, and he doesn’t believe the latest incident will prevent him from playing. “Obviously something happened a little bit,” Porzingis said. “But I have a couple days again (before Wednesday’s Game 3). Believe me, we will do everything we can to be back and moving well. … I’ll die out there if we need. Just kept going. Obviously I was a little limited, so smart thing was to get Al (Horford) back in there and close out the game.”
- Tatum may be the favorite for Finals MVP honors even though he’s only shooting 12-of-38 in the series, according to Matt Vatour of MassLive, who ranks the top candidates through two games.
It’s things like this that remind me what a great dude Shaq is. When he played he was the most dominant force in the entire league yet when he played for the Lakers, he repeatedly pumped up Kobe by saying Bryant was the best player on the team.
Such a selfless man and a person with no ego that would interfere with the success of LA at that time. A lot of respect for Shaq, and this is a great reminder.
It’s hilarious that people are talking about who the Celtics “best player” is when they’re two games from a chip.
No one cares except for casuals and writers looking for clicks.
Tatum is Boston’s best regular season player. But his game to game erraticness isn’t good for the playoffs. 34 points total in two finals games so far shows this.
“But his game to game erraticness isn’t good for the playoffs. ”
They’re 14 and 2 so far in the playoffs. You think if he played better they’d be 16 and 0?
Does his 12 assists in game 2 alone also show this? Because I think it suggests he was selfless and a very effective playmaker.
It shows that Holiday and Write and KP and Horford are all much better shooters than Jones Washington Green and Gafford.
Tatum has taken 38 shots in two games, not the definition of selfless. Just a relentless and extremely talented team.
Holiday/Brown will be.