Stephen A. Smith backs Celtics to win the Championship after 15 years over Mavs or Wolves despite Jayson Tatum not performing at his best

The Boston Celtics have made it to their second NBA finals in three seasons.

Stephen A. Smith backs Celtics to win the Championship after 15 years over Mavs or Wolves despite Jayson Tatum not performing at his best

Stephen A. Smith chose the Celtics to win the championship.

The Boston Celtics had the best regular season among all the NBA teams this year. While the team was supposed to be one of the favorites to win the championship, the tough battles in the postseason came as a surprise to many.

The team did have a great run in the playoffs, but the team’s star Jayson Tatum was inconsistent through each round. Regardless of that, analyst Stephen A. Smith has yet not lost complete faith in the team as he stayed firm on his former opinion. However, the competition in the West has created some doubts for the analyst.

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I think no matter what direction you go in, it's going to be a 'pick em' series in the NBA finals. If I had to pick right now, I would tell you Boston. But I'm not sold. I think it's that tight.
Stephen A. Smith said on First Take

Before the playoffs started, Smith was confident about Boston but his belief started to shift after witnessing the thrilling series between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves. After that, the Western Conference finals and the dominance of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving also influenced Smith. The analyst then added that he might change his opinion before the beginning of the finals series.

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Doubts about the Boston Celtics win for the title started rising after their Eastern Conference win. Many believed that the team had the easiest path, considering injured teams and unchallenging competition in the conference. The team certainly has a lot to prove going forward in the NBA finals and matching up against the best of the West.

Stephen A. Smith warned Jayson Tatum about Anthony Edwards during the second round

The Celtics MVP finalist did not have the best performance earlier in the playoffs. Before the Eastern Conference semifinals, Tatum had underwhelming performances to start the series. The star was only averaging 21.8 points while shooting 41.6% from the field. Tatum’s performance also cost the team a loss in the second game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

This did not sit well with Smith as he called out Tatum during an episode of First Take. Smith criticized Tatum for not playing up to expectations as he called his numbers ‘worst’. Further, the analyst warned Tatum about the younger players he has to face ahead in the competition. 

I just want Jayson Tatum to be better and to embrace the fact that there's a bunch of young thoroughbreds coming down the pipe. One is already here in Anthony Edwards and others are coming.
Stephen A. Smith added

Fortunately, Tatum did step up further in the postseason and was able to reach the finals. But the player along with his team has to do even more to take down the Mavericks or the Timberwolves in a best-of-seven series.

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