BOSTON — Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is used to criticismand there was ample alternative Friday night. The Cs fell into the palms of Kings of Sacramento114-97, and fell to 8-7 of their final 15 video games.
However earlier than Boston suffered its greatest defeat of the season, Tatum engaged in a disagreement with the previous Milwaukee Bucks scorer Brandon Jennings. The NBA veteran insulted Tatum on the “Gil’s Area” podcast, calling him one of many “softest” superstars by no means performed for the inexperienced staff. Shortly after, Tatum took to Instagram to reply, mocking Jennings’ feedback.
Regardless of all his success and his standing as a reigning champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist, Tatum acquired lots of unfair criticism throughout his time within the NBA. The Celtics star hardly ever solutions them, but he had time for Jennings. When requested why he bothered to applaud, the five-time All-Star performed it cool throughout his postgame press convention.
“I don’t know, I had a while yesterday,” he stated with a smile.
Tatum later talked about that nothing stated about him actually stunned him and that it was all a part of the job.
“I feel it comes from being among the finest gamers within the league, and the extra you accomplish, the extra it offers folks a chance to nitpick,” he stated. “If I wasn’t who I used to be or if I did not have a sure standing, folks most likely would not discuss me as a lot. However you recognize, I am not the primary celebrity in league historical past to face this. »
How did Jayson Tatum carry out after being referred to as ‘comfortable’?
Jennings’ chatter apart, Tatum was removed from his finest Friday night time. Though the St. Louis native scored 15 factors and 12 rebounds in 35 minutes, he additionally turned the ball over eight occasions. That is just one fewer turnover than the Kings had all sport.
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It wasn’t simply Tatum who was struggling. No Celtic starter shot higher than 50 p.c from the sector and guards Derrick White and Jrue Vacation mixed for eight factors.
To make issues even worse, Boston was hampered by the glass. The Kings pulled down 16 offensive rebounds, doubling the Celtics’ eight offensive rebounds. Moreover, Kings heart Domantas Sabonis grabbed a career-high 28 reboundsessentially the most the Celtics allowed single participant since 2002, in response to Cameron Tabatabaie of Celtics Wire.
Because of the Celtics’ dismal rebounding, the Kings made 102 photographs in 48 minutes of play. That is simply two discipline objective makes an attempt from essentially the most the C’s have allowed to an opponent all season. In the meantime, Boston made 84 photographs and shot 26.8 p.c from deep.
“Now we have to be higher in all areas of the sport,” Tatum stated.
“Tonight I do know they performed higher than us,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla stated of kings. “It’s a revitalized staff that merely performed higher than us.”
Heading into 2025, the Kings had been 14-19 and experiencing a the model new head coach, Doug Christie. They’re now 19-19 and are on a six-game profitable streak, the longest of their 2024-25 marketing campaign.
The Celtics are 3-2 to begin the brand new 12 months and 27-11 total. They may search to react on Sunday afternoon towards the New Orleans Pelicans in botherwhich occupies final place within the Western Convention with a tragic file of 8-31. Boston is 9-1 after coming off a loss and can look to proceed that rebounding pattern towards a staff that does not have a lot to lose.
