Jayson Tatum's Bold Statement After Boston Celtics Beat Cavs
On Wednesday evening, the Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers by a score of 113-98 to win their second-round playoff series 4-1.
The Celtics are now headed to the Eastern Conference Finals for the sixth time in the previous eight seasons.
After the game, Draymond Green (via the NBA on TNT) spoke to Jayson Tatum.
Green: "Do you feel like the success that ya'll have had has hurt you as far as MVP voting and things go and not getting over the hump? Do you think they're penalizing you for that?"
Tatum: "That's not for me to decide. Everybody has their job. The voters vote who think they should win MVP. Jokic rightly deserved it this year. At this point in the season, all the awards are voted on. The only thing that matters is getting that big trophy. We can worry about the individual awards later down my career, but this year just trying to get that championship."
Tatum finished Game 5 with 25 points, ten rebounds, nine assists and four steals while shooting 9/16 from the field and 3/7 from the three-point range in 43 minutes of playing time.
He is coming off a season where he averaged 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.0 steals per contest while shooting 47.1% from the field and 37.6% from the three-point range in 74 games.
The Celtics will now face off against either the Indiana Pacers or the New York Knicks.
That series is 3-2 in favor of the Knicks with Game 6 on Friday evening in Indiana.