The Boston Celtics are down 0-2 in their Eastern Conference semifinals series against the New York Knicks, and superstar Jayson Tatum is assuming full responsibility for how things have gone thus far.
“I take full ownership of the way that I’ve played in this series and can’t sugarcoat anything,” Tatum said Thursday, according to ESPN. “I need to be better, and I expect to be a lot better.”
Through the first two games of the series, the Celtics have gone 25 of 100 on 3-pointers. Tatum noted that the Celtics have to keep their confidence regardless of how things are going on the court. Thj
“Guys work really hard on their game and their craft and prepare to be in those moments to hit open shots, and it just hasn’t happened the last two games,” said Tatum. “But you can’t lose your confidence.”
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla is happy about Tatum taking ownership of how things are going for the Celtics.
“It’s a credit to [Tatum], I don’t think that I appreciate the fact that he would [take responsibility], but I think it’s on everybody,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “We all could be better. I could be better.
“The things that I can help our team execute on our entire team can be better. And yeah, he can too. So, just says who he is taking responsibility for that, and I expect him to be better.”
Mazzulla also acknowledged that the Celtics have to embrace their current situation if they want to get out of it.
“You can’t just have a pride and entitlement that we’re holier than now, that we’re not allowed to be down 0-2,” Mazzulla said. “This is the situation that we’re in. So we have to have an understanding of why we’re in it and we got to fix it, and we have an opportunity to fix that.”
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.