“Dumb-a** turnovers…just make the hockey assists” Kendrick Perkins blames Jayson Tatum for Celtics’ Game 4 loss at home
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Jayson Tatum and Kendrick Perkins
Former Celtics star Kendrick Perkins was unhappy with Jayson Tatum’s performance in game 4 of the 2022 NBA Finals. He targeted the young Boston Celtics marquee player for poor ball handling in the clutch showdown.
Boston Celtic had their noses in front over the Golden State Warriors ahead of Game 4. With the Opponents being under immense pressure to perform, the scenario suited Ime Udoka’s team. But the best player of the Warriors came up clutch and gave one of the best performances in Game 4. Stephen Curry put the Warriors on his back and pulled the game away from the Warriors. Celtics had no answer to Curry’s plays, while their star player Jayson Tatum was fighting with a poor offensive game. Former Celtics big man Kendrick Perkins was upset with his star and importantly with the turnovers.
Tatum score a team-high 23 points but had poor efficiency from the field. Also, he lost the ball far too easily, causing some easy points for the Warriors. Ineffective to put pressure through his offenses and ball passing Perkins thrashed 24-years old star as he said, “just make the hockey assists”
Kendrick Perkins showed no mercy to Jayson Tatum’s performance in the game against the Golden State Warriors
Boston Celtics made it to the NBA Finals after losing the 2010 Finals games to Los Angeles Lakers. But the current roaster looked determined and forceful enough to make it to the finals after 12 seasons. Ime Udoka made the team stronger, putting Jayson Tatum at the center of their offensive flow.
Tatum did play well through 18 games in the conference, winning an inaugural Eastern Conference Finals MVP Award. In his 1st ever Finals appearance also he leads the team in scoring and has been an offensive threat throughout the series. Though he had some high-scoring games, his efficiency is something that needs to be addressed.
Also as Perkins mentioned, he needs to work on his ball-handling and passing to limit the turnovers. Perkins said, “We could talk about turnovers and all the Xs and Os. We can talk about transition defense. But what I saw today was the best player on one team was ready for the occasion and rose to the occasion. And I’ve been waiting for the best player on the Celtics to rise to the occasion,” Perkins said on NBC Sports Boston’s “Celtics Pregame Live”.
In 23 points scored Jayson was on 8-of-23 from the field and had 11 rebounds and six assists. But he also committed six turnovers. Considering the game situation, the turnovers proved costly against the merciless Warriors team. In the closing moments of the game, Tatum scored just three points on 1-of-5 shooting as Boston’s offense imploded down the stretch.
NBA Champion Perkins exploded on the Celtics star as he said, “Where is Jayson Tatum at the moment? Real talk, where is Jayson Tatum? I’m not talking about 25 points on 22 shots, or going 8-of-23 tonight. When is he going to arrive to the Finals and have that big moment? … He doesn’t have to talk about it or tweet about being a superstar. You’re there. We’re going to talk about. You’re first team All-NBA. Show it.” To some extent, Perkins is right and talented Tatum can have better game plays.
The 24-year-old forward is averaging just 22.3 points on 33.1 percent shooting through four games of the NBA Finals. He’s turned the ball over 12 times in the last three games. In all, he has 91 turnovers, just 4 less than the record 50 by LeBron James.
Celtics will be visiting Chase Center for Game 5 of the NBA Finals and they have never lost 2 games in a row. Hopefully, Tatum will come up strong and prove Perkins wrong.
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Kunal Chawda
(600 Articles Published)