Knicks Defense on Jayson Tatum Proving Critical

The New York Knicks have kept Jayson Tatum at bay so far against the Boston Celtics.

New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges and center Karl-Anthony Towns defend against Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

The New York Knicks knew coming into the series against the Boston Celtics that neutralizing Jayson Tatum was going to be key towards grabbing wins.

After going up 2-0 on the Celtics, the team's defense on Tatum is a big reason why the Knicks are ahead in the series.

The Athletic insider Jay King details the Knicks' job defending Tatum.

"He finished the game with just 13 points on 5-of-20 shooting, missing four of five 3-point attempts, five of nine attempts inside the paint and all five of his other two-point attempts," King wrote.

"With less than four minutes left, he misfired on an open corner 3-pointer that would have put the Celtics ahead by nine points. Two minutes later, he bricked a fadeaway jumper with the Celtics’ lead down to one. He briefly flirted with his first single-digit postseason scoring game since 2021 before finally reaching double digits on a pair of free throws inside the final minute."

"After giving the Celtics a lead with 18.5 seconds left by going full-court for a clutch slam dunk, he finalized his team’s collapse by committing a turnover on his team’s final possession after two Brunson free throws put the Knicks back ahead."

Tatum is the Celtics' most valuable player and the offense runs through him. He simply isn't hitting enough shots to get the job done, and that is why the Celtics find themselves in need of winning two games (at least) inside Madison Square Garden.

Sure, the Celtics could be up 2-0 if he had just made one more shot in each game, but in the playoffs, that is sometimes the difference in being halfway to the next round or halfway towards going home early.

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