Jayson Tatum on final possession in Cleveland: “I probably should have went a little faster”  

It was the perfect conclusion to one of the worst nine-minute stretches of a near-perfect Celtics season. The Celtics, who led by 22 early in the fourth quarter, trailed by 1 with 19 seconds remaining after a 23-point fourth quarter from Dean Wade.

Jayson Tatum, who started the evening hot, but struggled in the final period (1-9 FG), dribbled up and down the field looking to find a gap on offense. With about nine seconds left, Derrick White gave him a pick, effectively bringing Darius Garland – who the Celtics had tried to chase defensively all night – into the action.

But Jarrett Allen never got back on White, instead helping Garland double-team Tatum. And Garland himself maintained a pretty good contest on a difficult fadeaway jumper.

Initially, a foul was called on Garland for making contact during the fight, but team manager Zach Zarba said in the pool report that the call was overturned after a challenge from Cavalier because “there was clear and conclusive evidence that Tatum’s leg extension created this marginal contact with the defender where contact would not otherwise have occurred.”

The overturned call meant the Celtics and Cavs lined up for a jump ball with 0.7 seconds left — not enough time for Boston to call a timeout and maintain possession.

Jayson Tatum and Joe Mazzulla acknowledged after the game that Tatum should have gone faster and given the team some chances. While neither of them elaborated much on that note, more time on the clock could have given them a chance to rebound offensively or even foul Cleveland and try their hand at offense once again. more.

“Obviously I know how much time was on the clock,” Tatum said. “I probably should have gone a little faster, just in case shit like this happens, maybe we have more time, or another opportunity.”

This is not the first time that the Celtics have slowed down the clock a few seconds too long when they are trailing. The most infamous is that time has expired in game 4 of the conference semifinals against Philadelphia and Marcus Smart, three didn’t count. But the Celtics have been efficient this year, holding an 18-9 record in games in which the score is within five points in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime.

“I just tried to have a clean look,” Tatum said. “Looking back, I probably should have gone a little earlier to give us more time and another opportunity.”

Joe Mazzulla echoed that sentiment, noting that White brought Garland into the action and was OK with the shot being taken. Mazzulla also said he tried to call a timeout with 4.6 seconds left, but the referees didn’t grant it.

“Losing a point in that situation, you’re trying to get a few more possessions, and we just have to get in there faster, go faster and try to extend the game,” Mazzulla said.

Yet even though the final possession went awry, it wasn’t the main reason for the largest fourth-quarter lost lead for the Celtics organization since 1997, according to Dick Lipe of NBC Sports Boston. A masterclass from Dean Wade – which included a perfect 7-7 FG performance in the fourth – and an icy Celtics attack combined to put the league’s best team in position to lose the ball game and end its streak of eleven consecutive victories.

“They always say the game is neither won nor lost on the last play,” Tatum said. “There were a lot of things we didn’t do well in that fourth quarter that put us in this position.”