2022 NBA Finals: Ime Udoka talks about Jason Tatum’s recent troubles ahead of Game 6
After losing Game 5 in San Francisco, the Boston Celtics are now 3-2 behind the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals, just one loss away from seeing their season come to an end.
Although they performed well in Game 5, holding Golden State just 104 points and Stephen Curry only 16 points on 0-9 deep shooting after scoring 43 points in Game 4, the Celtics offense only scored 94 points. , the third time in the series they failed to score 100 points in a game.
In fact, they failed in all three of those games, the Celtics lost, and it’s no coincidence!
The Celtics’ defense is good enough to come back and win this Finals series, but their offense has been really struggling lately. Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart got the job done for the most part, but we’ve yet to see Jason Tatum’s signature first-team performance from Jason Tatum.
Averaged 23.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 45.1% shooting from 3-pointers, Tatum doesn’t have a “bad” streak per se, but he shoots just 36.7% from the floor in streaks and in averages 3.6 assists per game. the game.
Celtics head coach Ime Udoka spoke to the media after the team’s practice on Wednesday afternoon and expressed confidence in his star’s ability to influence Game 6 and the rest of this series.
“I would say that we evaluate him not only on performance, but also on how he plays in general,” said Udoka. “In terms of scoring chances throughout this series, and not just in the fourth quarter, he missed some of the things he usually does. But we want him to be aggressive and find the balance he’s been doing all year…
“We want him to be aggressive and read correctly, which he has been doing all year, despite all the reporting he has seen.”
In the very last game of the series, Tatum scored 27 points on 10-20 shooting, but he finished with 4 total losses and -13 in the 44 minutes he played.
Correcting their offensive mistakes will be key for the Celtics ahead of Game 6 on Thursday night, and much of what happened may be due to their mentality.
Boston has been talking to the umpires a lot this series, and Udoka also addressed that on Wednesday, saying the team needs to focus on themselves, not the umpires.
“I think there was too much talk from time to time. It feels like after fouls or dead balls, free throws, timeouts, someone is talking to the referee,” said Udoka. “So we have to spend our energy on the game and everything else that goes on in between, except for the referees.”
Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics will take place on Thursday, June 16 at 9:00 pm ET. on ABC. The Celtics are currently 4-point favorites with over/under set at 210 for the game. FanDuel.com.
Stories related to the 2022 NBA Finals:
- Three things we learned from Game 5 of the Celtics-Warriors NBA Finals on Monday: The Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics 104-94 in Game 5 of the 2022 NBA Finals on Monday and took a 3-2 lead in the series, heading to Boston in Game 6 on Thursday. CLICK HERE.
- 2022 NBA Finals: Why the Celtics Should Be Really Concerned About Losing Game 5: After losing 104-94 on Monday night in Game 5 of the 2022 NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics are now trailing the Golden State Warriors 3-2 in this series, leaving a lot of doubt about their ability to come back and win the title. CLICK HERE.
- 2022 NBA Finals: Marcus Smart Talks to Media Before Game 6: The Boston Celtics will host the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Finals on Thursday night. Marcus Smart spoke to the media ahead of this critical game on Wednesday afternoon. CLICK HERE.
