Jayson Tatum’s triple-double helps power Celtics past Heat

In his 2024 postseason debut, Jayson Tatum didn’t have his best shooting performance, hitting just 1 from 8 from downtown.

But, he otherwise played a pretty perfect basketball game.

Nearly every time Tatum was double-teamed by a swarming Miami defense, he made the right read — whether that meant dishing it out to an open Sam Hauser for a three-pointer or finding Kristaps Porzingis in the post.

In turn, Tatum delivered his first career playoff triple-double, finishing the afternoon with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Consequently, the Celtics blew out the Heat in dominant fashion, winning the first game of the first round, 114-94, after leading by double-digits for most of the game.

Joe Mazzulla loved what he saw from Tatum from the jump, while Derrick White praised Tatum for “doing a little bit of everything.”

“The mindset and approach throughout the game was great,” Mazzulla said. “I thought he played with great patience. I thought he picked and [chose] his spots very well. I thought he took what the defense gave him and found a balance of creating for himself and for others.”

Tatum has maintained all year that he’s not particularly concerned with his scoring and wants to prioritize reading the defense. On Sunday afternoon, he said making the right on-court decisions came easy.

“It was real simple,” Tatum said. “Just making the right play, and – we talk about it all the time – not getting bored with making the right play. Finding the mismatch, drawing two, and surrounding yourself with shooters.”

Kristaps Porzingis, making his Celtic playoff debut, was a little more flowery of Tatum’s performance.

“That was a beautiful game from him,” Porzingis said. “Getting those assists, especially early on – he was not forcing anything too much, getting everybody involved. I think it’s a huge credit to him, this game, how we all played as a team because he got everybody feeling good early on, and that was like a perfect game from him.”

Tatum finished the game with 23 points on 7-18 (38.8%) shooting – nearly 4 points and 10% from the field worse than his season average. It wasn’t one of his quintessential offensive masterclasses we’ve seen from him in the past, like his 51-point outburst against the 76ers in Game 7 of last year’s conference semi-finals. But it was effective in his own right.

The ball movement Tatum spearheaded got everyone else going, and six Celtics players finished the game with double-digit points. Seven of his ten assists resulted in three-pointers, and the Celtics matched their franchise playoff record with 22 three-pointers on the night.

“Of course, for sure, he will say that he can play better, and he can,” Porzingis said. “But overall, I think that was a beautiful performance.”

It wasn’t just one teammate Tatum was setting up either. Two of his assists were to Porzingis (18 points), two to Derrick White (20 points), two to Al Horford (10 points), two to Payton Pritchard (8 points), one to Jaylen Brown (17 points), one to Sam Hauser (12 points), and one to Jrue Holiday (6 points).

Including this year, Jayson Tatum has now faced the Heat in four of the last five postseasons — the Erik Spoelstra-led defensive scheme is one he’s familiar with. The Heat will come out with adjustments next game, and the Celtics won’t shoot nearly 45% from three every night.

But in Game 1, the Heat’s defensive scheme was one he was able to exploit.

“They’re not a team that is necessarily going to let you play one-on-one all night,” Tatum said. “They do a really good job of man, and help, and showing a crowd. They just kind of force you to make the right play.”