Jayson Tatum Won’t ‘Sugarcoat’ His Dreadful Start To Knicks Series

Jayson Tatum is supposed to be the Celtics’ best player, but through two games of the Eastern Conference semifinals, he’s been a major liability for Boston.

He knows that.

Tatum picked a bad time for two of the worst games of his career. On Monday, he went 7-for-23 from the field, including a staggering 4-for-15 from behind the 3-point line in the Celtics’ Game 1 overtime loss to the Knicks. In Game 2 on Wednesday, he wasn’t any better, going 5-for-19 with just 13 points while coughing it up on Boston’s final possession in a Game 2 loss.

Eight turnovers through two games, too, with Boston now going to New York for a pivotal Game 3 in a shocking 0-2 hole.

Tatum didn’t have a chance to speak about his performance Wednesday night after an ill-timed (or, perhaps, well-timed) fire alarm at TD Garden. He did meet the media Thursday during the off-day and put a lot of the blame where it belongs: on himself.

“I give them credit, they’ve been playing well, but on the flipside, it’s taking ownership and knowing you’ve gotta play better, and I will,” Tatum told reporters Thursday, per NBC Sports Boston.

” … I take full ownership on the way I’ve played in this series, can’t sugarcoat anything. I need to be better, and I expect to be a lot better.”

Despite the frustrating outcomes in Games 1 and 2, Tatum insisted the Celtics aren’t going to completely overhaul their approach. The Celtics remain unafraid to let it fly, despite the fact they’re 25-of-100 from 3-point land through two games.

“We have a way that we play,” he said. “We have an identity. It can’t waver just because we’re missing shots. We can’t change who we are. We can’t be defined by makes and misses, and if you’re open, you’ve gotta take the shot,” Tatum added.

For better or worse, the Celtics have experiences on which they can lean. Boston fell down 0-3 in a series against the Miami Heat two years ago before winning three in a row to force a Game 7. Of course, they lost that winner-take-all game at home, but getting right Saturday in Game 3 would obviously keep that pressure off.

We have a game on Saturday at 3:30 that should be a lot of fun,” Tatum said. “If you’re a competitor, you should be looking forward to that moment.

” … I think experience, this group a lot of us have been in so many different playoff situations and series. It’s not like it’s our first time. Sometimes we need to lean on that, that experience, that we’ve been in situations like this before where we’ve had to get out of a hole, and we figured it out. You can’t look too far ahead. We’ve got one game on Saturday, and that’s the most important thing because it’s the next game.”