Jayson Tatum looks to bounce back on the road in the NBA Finals

Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff

A lot of success has been rolling for the Boston Celtics in the first two games of the NBA Finals. The Dallas Mavericks have struggled to find a way to slow down the plethora of playmaking that the Celtics impede on a nightly basis. For Mavericks’ guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, they have struggled to will their team to a victory in this final round of the playoffs. 

Following the Game 2 loss at TD Garden Arena, Doncic finished the game with an effective 32 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists to give the All-Star his first career NBA Finals triple-double. Despite his spectacular play Luka’s nemesis on the Celtics, Jayson Tatum isn't having the flashiest scoring output for his team. Tatum is averaging 17 points while shooting 31.6% from the field in the first two games of the Finals. 

Despite his poor output from the scoring end, Tatum is still finding ways to impact the play for the Celtics against the Mavs. In Sunday’s Game 2 victory, he finished with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and a team-high 12 assists. His ability to be a playmaker for the Boston Celtics has been awe-inspiring, but not what most fans have expected from the ace in this series. At 6’8, Tatum is known for creating a shot off the dribble and creating scoring opportunities at the rim. 

Going into the second set of games in this series, Tatum needs to get his rhythm back with scoring the basketball if he wants to pull off-road victories against the Mavs. The energy in Dallas is very intimidating and the Celtics will look for Jayson Tatum as the hero to crush the Mavericks at home.

DJ's Unisex Baseball Ice Fire Tank Top

Buy Now

Teammates Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday have been strong suitors on the scoring end for Boston, and if Tatum can make way for more opportunities to fall, this series can be over much sooner than we may think. 

An adjustment that Tatum must make is to be aggressive and attack the rim against the Mavericks frontcourt which will create free-throw line opportunities. All eyes will be on Jayson Tatum for the remainder of this series and how he responds to the pressure thrown at him.

All that matters for him and the Celtics is an NBA Championship at the end of this series, bringing banner number 18 to the storied franchise. The Boston Celtics travel on the road to take on the Dallas Mavericks in Game 3 Wednesday night.