3 thoughts on the Boston Celtics recent turnaround

Boston Celtics thought No. 1: Jayson Tatum finally rounding into form

Arguably the main reason for Boston’s early season struggles was the lack of scoring from Tatum. He was scoring, but his efficiency was absurdly low, and the amount of shots he was missing was seriously hurting this team. But Tatum finally appears to have put those struggles behind him, and he is getting back to his scoring ways.

I recently took a deeper dive into Tatum’s scoring woes, and similar to previous stages of his career where he has gone through scoring droughts, Tatum was settling for low quality shots far too often. But even when Tatum was getting to the rim, he was struggling to convert, which was also a bit strange to witness.

Tatum has altered his shot diet ever so slightly over the recent four games, and the results have been encouraging. Tatum is getting to the rim much more frequently, and then digging into his bag later on in the game. Sometimes he doesn’t even have to, as pretty much as his scoring against the Rockets last night came in the paint or at the free throw line.

Getting to the paint more has helped Tatum get to the line more often too, which is another huge piece of his game. Tatum has earned at least six trips to the line in the last five games, which is another sign his scoring is coming back. Some of Tatum’s best scoring games last season came when he was routinely making trips to the charity stripe, so it makes sense that now that he getting there again with more frequency, his scoring will continue to increase.

Tatum’s shooting from behind the arc appears to be making strides as well. He struggled mightily against the Rockets (just 1-9), but he shot at least 41 percent on threes in the previous three games, which is much closer to what we are used to seeing from him. Tatum’s shooting splits are still well below his career averages, but if he keeps up his recent scoring exploits, he will be able to get those back to their normal spots in no time.

With Brown now back in the fold, it will be interesting to see how him and Tatum mesh on the floor. Tatum did most of the heavy lifting in the first half against Houston in their first game back together, while Brown caught on fire in the third quarter to score 10 straight points to essentially put the game to bed.

Getting these guys going at the same time is going to be crucial for the upcoming stretch of games. Tatum has appeared to turn the corner, but he will he need to keep improving if Boston wants to have a chance to come out on top against some of their tougher upcoming opponents.