The Boston Celtics played their first preseason game on Tuesday night in Philadelphia and two of their best players struggled offensively. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for just 15 points.
In his first game since signing a five-year, $195 million extension with the Celtics, Tatum was 4-13 from the field and was 0-4 from three-point range. Brown was 1-11 from the field, with his only make being one three-pointer. Both Tatum and Brown played for more than 22 minutes.
I don’t want to overreact to one preseason game, but fans probably were expecting for Tatum and Brown to shoot better on Tuesday night. A big reason why the Celtics are expected to finish the regular season with one of the top six records in the Eastern Conference is because they have Tatum on their roster.
Tatum is one of the best young players in the league and he had the best year of his career last season–averaging 23.4 points and 7 rebounds per game–to earn him that contract extension. With no Gordon Hayward (who went to Charlotte) and no Kemba Walker to start the season (due to a knee injury), Tatum needs to step up early on in the season.
It isn’t time to be worried since this was just one preseason game, but Brad Stevens will have plenty of film to go over on Wednesday to try to fix some of Boston’s problems.
(Photo via AP/Elise Amendola)
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