Jayson Tatum

Despite shooting poorly, Jayson Tatum broke an NBA Finals record in Game 1. Here's why the Golden State Warriors should be terrified.

Stephen Curry and the Dubs aren’t out of this series, but they must figure out a way to slow Tatum and the Celtics’ role players down. But the Duke product has been both a facilitator and scorer in the playoffs before, recording 29 points and eight assists in a game against the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this year. They have a deep team and the three-point king, Stephen Curry. However, they should be nervous about Tatum’s facilitating role in Game 1. The Warriors will have to continue focusing on Tatum, which could leave shooters like White and Marcus Smart wide open. With 7:09 left and the Celtics trailing 99-94, Tatum dished out an assist to Pritchard, whose long-range basket trimmed the score to 99-97. However, Tatum broke the record for total assists in a Finals debut with 13.

Ime Udoka and Al Horford (who had a career night of his own) both said it after the game — it was Brown who made the difference in Game 1, and now the ...

Before the Warriors knew it, they were barraged with Celtic make after Celtic make, the kind of scoring onslaught they usually deliver rather than endure. “[He] had a great start to the fourth quarter. Horford flexed for the Chase Center crowd, maybe 10 percent of whom could tell you who Nate Thurmond was, after what would be the Celtics’ final basket of the night. But Brown helped punctuate the victory with a nifty dish to Horford for a conventional 3-point play with 48.3 seconds left. It was the start of something, something special and something that will be remembered for a long time if the Celtics prevail in this series. “I think that for us the key was Jaylen Brown,” said Horford from the postgame podium.

The Warriors held Jayson Tatum to 12 points but his fingerprints were still all over Game 1. TSN's Scott Rafferty breaks down how Boston's superstar picked ...

A scary sign for the Warriors: Tatum has had several rough shooting games in these playoffs and he's responded in a big way each time. He's only shooting 43.4 percent from the field, but he's more than capable of getting going from all three levels and putting up big numbers. "What he did well and did early was get others involved. That leads to Green helping off of Robert Williams III to protect the rim. Obviously going 3-17, that's usually not going to happen. Put Stephen Curry in a pick-and-roll in an effort to get him switched onto Tatum. It helps that Celtics not named Tatum shot the lights out from 3-point range — nine of his 13 assists led to a 3-pointer, according to ESPN's Matt Williams, the most ever in a Finals game — but it was his relentless attacking that forced the Warriors to collapse in ways that created those opportunities. So, you know, obviously it's just as simple as if you draw two, find somebody that's open. Tatum used all of the attention the Warriors were paying him to his advantage time... To avoid the switch and prevent Tatum from getting a straight-line drive to the basket, the Warriors have Curry hedge... Tatum doesn't get the switch he's looking for, but he is able to get a step on Andre Iguodala and attacks the basket. There was a specific way that Tatum was able to punish the Warriors with his passing in Game 1.

Jayson Tatum finished Game 1 of the NBA Finals with more assists than points, something he has no problem with if it leads to the Celtics earning three more ...

He added: "His shot's not falling, (but) he still attracts a good amount of attention. And it was to help the team out as much as possible. He's evolved to the point where he consistently makes the correct read. Tatum dished out 13 assists in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. No one else on either side had more than five. That's a product of the Warriors' determination not to let him beat them as a scorer, a lack of luck, missing many clean looks, and some jitters from playing on this stage for the first time. Thursday, the recently minted All-NBA First Team member answered the call in a record-setting fashion.

Jayson Tatum found a way to beat the Warriors when his shot wasn't falling in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. But that was hardly the first time the Celtics star ...

Make no mistake: The Celtics need Tatum to be an elite scorer. Tatum averaged less than four assists per game through the first three months of the regular season, even getting called out by teammate Marcus Smart for not sharing the ball enough. Remarkably, the C's have won three such games in a row -- with Tatum dropping 29 dimes over those three contests. It just shows his growth." "His playmaking has gotten better steadily. That's a tough look for your superstar in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. But the Boston Celtics found a way to defeat the Golden State Warriors 120-108 -- because Tatum found another way to be a superstar.

Jayson Tatum had a rough shooting night in Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals, but he still found ways to help the Celtics defeat the Warriors on the road.

It goes without saying that the Celtics need Tatum to play a lot better offensively to win this series. He showed off his much-improved playmaking skills with a game-high 13 assists. Tatum shot 3-of-17 from the field, including a 1-of-5 mark from 3-point range.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals was full of surprises. Not only did the Boston Celtics beat the odds by pulling off a 120-108 win, but they did so despite an…

Article content Tatum has never averaged more than 4.4 assists per game over his five-year career, but he looked like the second coming of Magic Johnson in Game 1 as he set an NBA record with 13 dimes in his Finals debut. Article content Article content Two weeks later, he rebounded from another 10-point outing in Game 3 against the Miami Heat with a 31-point eruption in Game 4. Article content Tatum shot 16 of 30 in that outing as he led the Celtics to an emotional 125-119 win at home. Article content Will Tatum bounce back on Sunday? Better yet, does Boston even need him to light up the scoreboard to win? Article content Game 1 of the NBA Finals was full of surprises. Article content

Tatum's 13 assists in Game 1 were a career-high and the most ever for a player in their Finals debut.

Again, a pick-and-roll gets Tatum a chance to attack Looney. He gets a step on him to the baseline, and Green is over in a flash to cut off the drive. He's the kind of guy that he's going to figure it out. Turning Tatum into a surefire playmaker has been a year-long odyssey for Udoka and the Celtics, and the hard work paid off in Game 1. The ball is already in the air as Porter is trying to get set, and that gives the Celtics the advantage. A risky proposition considering that while Tatum is prone to going ice cold at times, as he did in Game 1, he always bounces back. "All year leading up to this we've been kind of grooming and preparing Jayson for these moments where teams are going to key in on you so much that they try to take you out of the game," Smart said. Now, the Warriors have to decide whether they want to stay the course or adjust how they defend Tatum. "You have to be able to make plays and affect the game in different ways. In fact, the timing on his passes was so sharp that he often caught the Warriors' help defenders with their weight and momentum shifted towards him, giving them no chance to recover to the perimeter. You aren't going to make shots every night, but you can always control your approach; Tatum's was right on the money on Thursday. His 13 assists were a career-high, and also the most for any player in their Finals debut. Otto Porter Jr. instinctually shifts down towards the paint to try and cut off a drive, but Tatum reads that and makes the pass right away. With Tatum's shot abandoning him, Brown took over and either scored or assisted on 20 of their first 23 points in the frame.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals is in the books! Boston blitzed the Warriors with an underperforming Jayson Tatum. How should Golden State adjust?

But you can’t afford to give two or three different guys 20 points and then have another guy go off for 18, which I think was Smart. So I would be fine with maybe being a little bit less aggressive toward Tatum, just to make sure that you’re a little bit more attached to the other shooters to make sure you don’t have a performance like this again from the others. But is that the adjustment that Steve Kerr makes or do you think they are just like, all right, we are still going to take everything at the paint away from Tatum and away from Jaylen. I mean, they only allowed, I think eight shots at the rim in the whole game. I think you could take your foot off the pedal a little bit with regards to Tatum, because if you could hold him to 10 or 12 each game, that’s wonderful, but I don’t even know that you have to do that. And the thing about Tatum’s game was, it’s clear to me that Golden State’s defensive strategy … like when he was hunting the smalls, and even before he hunted the smalls, he would run a pick-and-roll with Rob Williams, and Draymond is in the paint. I thought the most fascinating part of the game to me was how they were able to score so efficiently, beyond the blitz at the end of the game. He was in the paint the whole game.

The NBA Finals shooting struggles weren't a problem.

Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. And in Game 1 of the Finals, we saw him struggle to shoot. Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. — Al Horford hit a Dray-like flex and blew a kiss after Game 1. What a night for him! Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every afternoon.