John Minchillo/Associated Press
After a 109-103 away win on Saturday, Jayson Tatum and Boston Celtics are now 3-0 ahead of last season’s title favorites the Brooklyn Nets.
Yes, the same Nets that brought Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to free agency in 2019. The same nets traded for James Harden (who you know later switched for Ben Simmons) in 2020.
During what seemed like a twilight for the NBA’s superteam era, Brooklyn was perhaps the best known example of this form of team building (although the Los Angeles Lakers might want a word on that front).
And that was good enough to give them the shortest title chances before the start of this season. But less than a year later it doesn’t look like it will be good enough to beat Tatum and the Celtics, who play just as much as a super team as everyone else.
Of course, it didn’t just start with the playoffs. Boston has dominated for over half the season. As of Dec. 31, their net rating of plus 12.7 (net points per 100 possessions) not only leads the league, it’s 5.1 points better than second-place Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns (the size of the gap between second and 12th place). ).
The only team in NBA history to have a net rating greater than 12.7 for an entire season? The Chicago Bulls 1995-96. Yes, these cops. Those who went 72-10 and featured Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman (all Hall of Famers).
No, these Celtics are probably not the top-flight Bulls or the Golden State Warriors of the Lightyears era, but at least statistically they play like them. And Tatum rises to the limit top five Status (or multi-year All-NBA selection, or MVP candidate, or however you choose to classify it) has a lot to do with it.
| Jayson Tatum through 2021-22 catch-all metrics | ||
| Estimated winnings from dunks and threes | 16.3 | 3 |
| FiveThirtyEight wins via substitute | 13.5 | 2 |
| Basketball Reference wins over substitutes | 13.0 | 6. |
| Dunks and Threes, FiveThirtyEight, Basketball Reference | ||
At the same stretch as of December 31, Tatum averaged 27.9 points, 4.9 assists and 3.2 threes with a true shot percentage of 61.6. After hitting 39 and 6 in the last game against Brooklyn, he has up to 29.7 points, 8.0 assists and 3.0 threes for the streak.
In a matchup that includes KD and Kyrie, there’s really no argument that anyone else was the top player in three games. And it’s not just because of Tatum’s counting stats.
One of the driving factors (perhaps the driving factor) behind Boston’s dominance since Christmas is a defense so connected it seems to border on telepathy. And Tatum is a key wheel in that.
He finished the season as the leader in defensive win shares, a statistic historically owned by centers and traditional power forwards (each of the top 43 defensive win share seasons in NBA history belongs to the bigs).
And after nabbing six steals on Saturday, he now has an average of 3.3 shares (steals plus blocks) for the series. He’s also a big part of why Durant shoots 36.5 percent from the field (after Game 3, KD is now 2 of 15 when defended by Tatum).
In the form of some of his superstar predecessors on the wing, Tatum has emerged as a game changer on both sides of the ground. And as ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy said after Saturday’s broadcast, he’s now in the top player on a championship team tier.
However, you can’t win it alone (just ask reigning MVP Nikola Jokic). And like I said, Boston play like a super team.
This 2021-22 defensive win splits the leaderboard? Robert Williams III, Al Horford, Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown are fifth, tied sixth, tied eighth and tied 15th.
Brown just over 20 points for the third straight season. Williams is a dynamic rim-runner who forces defenses to collapse when he’s the screener on pick-and-rolls. Horford is one of the smartest passers of his generation. And Smart, finally authorized as a starting point guard, just averaged a career-high 5.9 assists.
They’re not backed by the league’s deepest bench, but Derrick White is a good ball mover and a great defender (ranked eighth on defense plus-minus in the NBA) who schematically fits either end. Grant Williams and Daniel Theis have a lot of experience with the system. And Payton Pritchard has the ability to take on two- or three-minute stretches (like he did on Saturday when he had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting). You don’t need much more of a backup in the playoffs.
That’s especially true with a starting position of five and a first option as good as Boston’s.
The idea that you need a top 5-10 player to win a championship has persisted for years with good reason. It’s generally true. In a sport where only 10 players are on the ground at any one time, a single player can have a huge impact. And Tatum is now the kind of player who can be the top 10 in any series from now until the finals.