2:19 pm ET
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Tim BontempsESPN
BOSTON – Jason Tatum had a simple decision for the Boston Celtics to return with a win in game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night – he just needs to play better.
“I mean, I give [the Golden State Warriors] merit, “Tatum said after Boston’s 107-97 loss to Golden State in Game 4 at TD Garden on Friday night led the series to 2-2.” They’re a great team. They play well. They have a game plan and stuff like that.
“It simply came to our notice then. I have to be better. I know I influence the game in other ways, but I have to be more efficient, shoot the ball better, finish better on the edge.
“I’m responsible for that.”
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Tatum did not play according to the standard he set in this series. He shoots 34% of the field and although he has passed the ball beautifully in Boston’s two wins, collecting 22 assists and four turnovers, he has nine assists and 10 turnovers in their two losses.
Tatum, along with the rest of the Celtics, got a short circuit in the fourth quarter of Friday night, making just two shots in the last seven minutes. This allowed Golden State to end the match with a series of 21-6, turning the score in their favor to equalize the series.
“Obviously we felt like we were in a position to win the game,” said Tatum, who was 1 to 5 in the fourth quarter. “There are a lot of things we would like to do differently, especially in the offensive. I think we just stood too much in the fourth of all.”
However, it all started with Tatum, who won MVP medals in the Eastern Conference finals and is the face of the Celtics franchise. He is shown as the opposite number of Warriors star Stephen Curry throughout this series, but on the court Curry is incomparable.
This was certainly the case in Game 4, when Curry had 43 points, 10 rebounds and four assists and dominated every second he was on the court. Tatum’s night, meanwhile, was emblematic of Boston’s poor decision-making for much of the game. He had five turns and was a big part of the team’s stagnant attack further.
Asked if he was putting too much pressure on himself, Tatum said no, and he just needed to be better.
“I think it’s as simple as it is,” he said. “I just have to be better. I know I can be better, so it’s not like me, me or my team asking me to do something I’m not capable of. They know the level and I know the level I can play at.
“For me, it’s up to me to do it more often than just helping my team in the best way I can. It’s not too much pressure at all. It’s kind of like my job.”
Asked what he had seen from Tatum so far in the series, Celtics coach Ime Udoka said he was looking for fouls instead of trying to end through contact.
“Sometimes he looks for fouls,” Udoka said. “They are a team that charges in certain matches. He finds the exits. He shot over two or three boys. This is the balance between being aggressive and choosing your places and doing what he did in previous games, which throws him out and gets wide-eyed.
“This is the current topic, so to speak. He reached the basket as a goal scorer as well as a playmaker. They do a good job with their rotations. Sometimes they hunt for fouls instead of finishing. I’ve seen this in a few games so far. “
Going forward, what the Celtics need to see is Tatum, who has reappeared again and again in big places earlier in these playoffs, scoring 46 points in Milwaukee in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals to prevent elimination against Janice. Adetokunmpo and defending champion Bucks.
A similar performance at Game 5 in San Francisco on Monday night could give Boston a chance to close this series in Boston next Thursday in Game 6.
Tatum said he remained confident he and the Celtics could return.
“We’re not doing this on purpose,” Tatum said. “I promise you we don’t. We try as hard as we can. There are some things we need to clear up. Obviously revs, offensive movement. Would you like to win today and be 3- 1? That would be the best case scenario.
“But this is the finale. The art of competition, they came here with the feeling that they had to win. It was not easy. I think that’s somewhat of a beauty that won’t be easy. It doesn’t have to be.
“We know we both want it and we have to go get it.”
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