Jayson Tatum’s Historic Playoff Debut Continues, and Other Monday NBA Takeaways

The pressure is on for Jayson Tatum, but he didn’t care during the Boston Celtics’ 117-101 victory to open their second-round battle with the Philadelphia 76ers. His 28 points, three rebounds and two assists on 8-of-16 shooting from the field cheap new nike nfl jerseys spoke volumes.

Though the C’s rookie has largely been overshadowed in the Rookie of the Year race by second-round opponent Ben Simmons and Utah Jazz sensation Donovan Mitchell, he’s been yet another first-year player enjoying a fantastic inaugural campaign. He’ll likely finish third in ROY voting (deservedly so for an award based solely on the regular season), but that’s not a knock on his talent.

Might he be submitting stronger numbers if he were playing on a weaker team that could ask him to fill a takeover role more regularly? If Game 1 of this current clash is any indication, he very well could be. Maybe he’s only held back by Boston’s egalitarian system.

With Joel Embiid attempting to dissuade cheap nfl jerseys nike china Al Horford from shooting too frequently and the Sixers throwing a host of bigger defenders at Terry Rozier, Tatum entered this affair with his team’s most favorable matchup. He drew JJ Redick out of the gates, which gave him the opportunity to take advantage of a mismatch and punish Philadelphia whenever it didn’t switch a more adept defender onto him.

Throughout the contest, and especially during nike jersey nfl cheapĀ  the second quarter, that worked wonders.

Tatum twice began his experience in the Eastern Conference semifinals by driving to his right against Redick and forcing Embiid to help from the weak side. Both times, he drew whistles and earned trips to the charity stripe. But his game expanded as the Celtics placed more and more trust in him, and he started hitting tough jumpers on the move and making timely backdoor cuts like the one below: Everything worked in the second youth nfl jerseys cheap quarter as Tatum exploded for nine points, one rebound and one assist on 4-of-5 shooting from the field. He became the focal point of the Boston attack, and that alone shouldn’t be overlooked. This historic organization doesn’t tend to just hand over the reins to rookies in such pressure-packed moments, which speaks volumes to Tatum’s preparedness and natural nose for scoring. youth nfl jerseys