Hard To Take:Boston Celtics Jayson Tatum To Miss NBA Finals Day 2 Through…
After coming up short in his first trip to the NBA Finals two years ago, Celtics star Jayson Tatum says he views this return to the league’s championship round as a second chance at achieving his ultimate goal as a player.
“It’s a lot that myself, and we, can learn from that experience being in the Finals, and this time, this go-around is a lot different,” Tatum said after Saturday’s practice. “Obviously, we’ve been there before, we came up short.
And a great opportunity to make it to the Finals again. You don’t always get a second chance, so really just looking at it as a second chance.
Playing through a wrist injury in the 2022 Finals, Tatum averaged 21.5 points but shot 31.5% from 2-point range, including going 6-for-18 from the field in a Game 6 loss at TD Garden as the Golden State Warriors went on to celebrate their fourth championship of the Stephen Curry era on Boston’s home floor.
It has taken two years for the Celtics to get a chance to avenge that result, after losing in seven games in the 2023 Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat — again seeing their season end at home in Boston.
Tatum sprained his ankle in the opening moments of that loss, helping prevent Boston from becoming the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven playoff series.
Now Boston finds itself back — and against a familiar foe in Kyrie Irving, whom Tatum spent the first two years of his career playing alongside.
And although the rocky 2018-19 season, and Irving’s eventual departure in free agency for the Brooklyn Nets, makes Irving’s return one of the dominant storylines of the Finals, Tatum said the opportunity to play with one of the league’s superstars early in his career was a tremendous learning opportunity.
“Obviously there were some ups and downs, but I think, for me, being a first-, second-year player, being around a superstar, essentially, every day and seeing how to navigate that space,” Tatum said, “and then obviously on the court, he’s one of the most talented guys I’ve ever seen.
Diagnosed with little flu but probably to be certified to play against the maverick as it is not taken serious.