Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla sends out a message full of praise to Jayson Tatum’s performance vs. Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night

On Wednesday night, against the Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum had a chance to say something. Even though he played well enough to score 32 points, the Dubs still beat them 118–112.

Most of the time, early November games aren’t the best time to make a statement, but this 2022 NBA Finals rematch had extra excitement. Steve Kerr, head coach of the Warriors and captain of Team USA, got in trouble for leaving Tatum on the bench for most of the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Although the United States won gold at the Summer Olympics, Kerr was booed by many Celtics fans.

Many people thought that Tatum would show Kerr’s Warriors where they went wrong in their first game against them. The five-time All-Star wasn’t helping his case in the first half. He made only two of seven field goal attempts and turned the ball over four times.

The next 24 minutes were not the same. Tatum scored 24 points, had no mistakes, and made 50% of his three-point shots. As the game went on, he got used to the Warriors’ tough defense and made enough shots to keep the Green Team in it.

The Celtics came back from being down 14 points to take the lead again, but future Hall of Famer Stephen Curry scored 10 points, grabbed two boards, and passed the ball twice in the fourth quarter. The Warriors star scored 27 points and had nine assists, which were the most on the team.

According to NBC Sports Boston, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla was proud of Tatum’s good game even though they lost.

“I believed he did very well.” I thought he did exactly what the game needed, whether it was passing, blocking, or scoring. “He shot half from the field and half from three,” Mazzulla said. “He changed up how he attacked, found his teammates, and made shots when he needed to. I thought he rose to the challenge of this game.”

Did Jayson Tatum of the Celtics use the Olympics to get fired up for his game against the Warriors?
Tatum is having a great start to the season. In nine games, the star from St. Louis has averaged 30 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 6.5 assists. His numbers are good enough to put him in the running for MVP and help his “revenge tour.”

But the current NBA winner doesn’t care about personal praise or making Kerr look bad. According to Justin Turpin of WEEI, he wants to take things one step at a time and get his team back in the running for another title.

“Just another Wednesday.” When asked if the mess in Paris was on Tatum’s mind before the game against the Warriors, he told the press, “Another game.” “This is another chance for me to try to be the best player I can be.” It’s another day to try to win.

The way Tatum and his team think has worked well so far. The Celtics are still 7-2 after losing to the hot Warriors. This is the same record they had after nine games during the legendary 2023–24 season. Golden State, on the other hand, has won five games in a row and is 7-1. Last year at this time, they were 6-2 before going on a rough six-game losing run.

The Celtics will try to get back on track on Friday night at home against the Brooklyn Nets, who are rebuilding but have surprised many by going 4-4. The Warriors have two games left on their very tough road trip against two of the best teams in the NBA. First, on Friday, they go to Ohio to play the unbeaten Cleveland Cavaliers. On Sunday, they go south to play the 7-1 Oklahoma City Thunder.