Celtics’ Jayson Tatum: ‘Unacceptable’ 1st-Half Performance in Game 4 vs. Heat

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said his scoreless first-half performance in the team’s Game 4 loss to the Miami Heat on Wednesday night was “unacceptable.” 

Tatum came alive in the second half with 28 points, but he missed all six of his shots before halftime as Boston fell behind 50-44.

“I wasn’t aggressive enough,” Tatum told reporters. “I didn’t score in the first half. That’s unacceptable. So I knew I had to play better, and that’s what I tried to do.”

Celtics head coach Brad Stevens didn’t have a detailed explanation for Tatum’s early struggles, saying it’s part of the ebb and flow of the sport:

“It’s basketball. I don’t want to oversimplify it, but we’ve all had nights where you don’t feel like it’s going for you. Then you go into the break—or you’ve seen great players do that, at least—where they go into the break and they can just reset, see one go through the net, and then they go.”

“I think that’s all Jayson needed to see. He was way more assertive, way more aggressive in the second half. But it was probably because he felt a lot better about it. He was, for whatever reason, I thought in the first half just struggling to find the net, and then it only takes a great player once or twice to get their confidence rolling.”

Boston’s offense played much better in the second half, scoring 65 points, but it wasn’t enough to complete a comeback. Miami was led by Tyler Herro’s 37 points off the bench along with at least 20 points from three other players, Jimmy Butler (24), Goran Dragic (22) and Bam Adebayo (20).

The 112-109 triumph gave the Heat a commanding 3-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.

A similar story played out in the first two games as Miami put forward a more consistent effort across four quarters than Boston to go up 2-0.

Tatum explained the Celtics have no further room for lapses as they face elimination beginning in Game 5:

“Simple answer is just we’ve got to be better. We know what’s at stake, we know what’s on the line, and we’ve got to play a complete game.

“It’s win or go home time. I wish we would have played like that from the start. I take a lot of blame, you know, I didn’t play like myself in the first half. So I’ve got to be better to start the game off on both ends.”

Game 5 is scheduled for an 8:30 p.m. ET tip Friday night on ESPN.