Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum has developed a killer instinct
Star Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has developed a killer instinct on the court, and his teammates know it as much as the fans and the media does. When the St. Louis native joined the NBA in 2017, he was known as a dangerous but nice player. He has grown stronger and more competitive in the ensuing years, and meaner more recently as well.
Boston star big man Kristaps Porzingis in particular felt the need to talk about the Duke alum's killer instinct and its development after the Celtics' Game 4 win over the Orlando Magic in their 2025 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs first round series. "You could see his demeanor," said Porzingis. "He wants the ball toward the end, and we trust him fully that he's going to get a bucket for us."
Advertisement
The crew behind the "CLNS Media Boston Sports Network" YouTube channel put together a clip of KP's interview for us to watch for ourselves. Check it out below!
If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network: https://ytubl.ink/3Ffk
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Celtics star Jayson Tatum has developed a killer instinct
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
LeBron James on critics saying he doesn't have scoring skills
LeBron James on critics saying he doesn't have scoring skills LeBron James became the NBA's all-time leading scorer two seasons ago when he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in February 2023 during a game between his Los Angeles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Since then, he has surpassed 40,000 points, and he currently has 42,184 points for his career during the regular season, as well as 50,473 points in the regular season and playoffs combined. Still, some don't consider him an elite scorer. He isn't quite as skilled as some of the other leading scorers in NBA history, such as Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, and it has even led some to downplay his accomplishment as the all-time leading scorer. According to critics, James doesn't have "a bag," meaning that he doesn't quite have the skill-based moves that other superstars possess. He has indeed always relied heavily on his athleticism and physicality, although he has greatly improved his 3-point shooting over the last two seasons. During a recent episode of his "Mind the Game" podcast, which he co-hosts with Hall of Famer Steve Nash, James reacted to those critics and tried to downplay the importance of having a highly refined skill set (h/t Lakers Nation). 'When I was growing up, it wasn't talked about. The least amount of dribbles to get to where you need to get to was what I grew up watching. Michael Jordan wasn't dribbling 1,000 times to get to his spot and raise. Isiah Thomas, as great of a handle as Isiah Thomas had, Isiah would get to his spot and raise. All these guys that I grew up watching, Grant Hill can get to his spot and bury you. [Glenn] Robinson, I get to my spot and I'm burying you. Allan Houston, all these great players that I grew up watching and admiring, Penny Hardaway. They could dribble the basketball, yes. Tracy McGrady, even as great as Tracy was, it was I'm bigger than you, I'm gonna get to the spot in the least amount of dribbles. Kevin Garnett, just good footwork and getting over the top, if I'm bigger than you and I get you on my shoulder or get you on my hip, I'm gonna use my size. I see it all the time, I be on social media and it's like 'LeBron has no bag.' LeBron has no bag and I'm sitting over there with 50 billion points… Just play the game the right way. And I hope that our younger generation doesn't get swamped by saying OK, I need a bag, I need a bag. Work on your game, know what you're gonna be good at in order to help the team and prove the next year to be a better player. You come in as a guy that's offensive game is not developed, you come in and you defend, you get extra possessions, you get extra rebounders for the guys. OK, then next year you work on your game in the offseason. It's only one or two, three guys maximum that's gonna be handling the [expletive] hold anyways. We don't need you to have a bag. We have the luxury of having three guys with us two and AR, but not many teams have three guys that's gonna be handling the ball like that anyways. You can make $200 million in the NBA if you defend and shoot a corner 3-pointer.' Even at age 40, and even without the same level of scoring skills as some others, James has continued to excel. He averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds a game while shooting 51.3% from the field and 37.6% from 3-point range. With Luka Doncic now by his side, one can easily see the game becoming a little easier for him now that he has been playing off the ball more often since Doncic's arrival. Many have wanted James to play off the ball for years in order to lessen his workload and increase his efficiency. No matter how skilled or unskilled one thinks James is, many feel his career scoring mark will never be surpassed.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Pacers vs. Thunder: Tyrese Haliburton can't repeat heroics in Game 2 of NBA Finals — 'It feels like there's five guys around'
OKLAHOMA CITY — Perhaps Tyrese Haliburton's limp is nothing. The way he gingerly exited Oklahoma City's Paycom Center was far different than the confident stroll he came into the night with. It could be some WWE-style ploy to get the Oklahoma City Thunder to take him off their 'most wanted' list, to get them to let their guard down just a bit as the scene for the 2025 NBA Finals shifts to Indianapolis after OKC tied the series 1-1 with a 123-107 win in Game 2 on Sunday. Advertisement But by his own admission, Haliburton has had 'two really poor first halves' in the first two games of the Finals. You make up for it by capping off a late comeback with a game-winning jumper that takes the air out of a home building. There was no such elixir Sunday night, though, as the swarming Thunder defense played to its reputation in stymieing Haliburton and, thus, grinding the Pacers' offense to a halt. The stat sheet says Haliburton finished with 17 points and six assists — which is actually a better scoring output than Game 1, but most of those buckets came in the fourth quarter when the Pacers couldn't mount a cursory comeback. The Thunder never sweated in Game 2 because they kept Haliburton feeling the heat, holding him to three points in the first half, as they retook control and set the terms of engagement to tie the series. It's their physical style that kept Haliburton out of the paint and roaming the perimeter, probing and praying for a crack in an impenetrable defense. The paint was off limits in Game 2 and the Pacers were relegated to passing the ball around the perimeter — perhaps paying a bit too much respect to the Thunder's historical defense. Advertisement 'This is who they are defensively,' Haliburton said. 'A lot of guys who can guard the ball fly around.' In the aftermath of a drama-less Thunder win where the most compelling moment of the evening was Hall of Fame coach Don Nelson protesting the Luka Dončić trade by wearing Dončić's sneakers upon being honored with the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, all eyes are naturally headed to Haliburton. Baked into the Thunder's scheme is giving up a lot of 3s, and giving up a lot in the corner, which is technically the easiest shot. But when their big people are flying around to those spots, you're not playing your game — it's actually going right into the Thunder's plans. 'I think you have to choose on getting 3s your way,' Haliburton said. 'We gotta do a better job of getting downhill and just playing from the inside out. You know, they are a team, like you said, it really takes away the paint, does a great job of swarming the ball. It feels like there's five guys around here every time we're in the paint.' Tyrese Haliburton, center, reacts during the second half of Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) There's an up-and-down nature to Haliburton's production in these playoffs, the sterling moments immediately followed by pseudo-disappearing acts. Or at least an inability to recapture magic two nights later. This isn't a referendum on his stardom or validation to the 'overrated' talk. It just shows how difficult it is to produce on-call. Advertisement Following the wild finish in Game 2 of the semifinals against Cleveland, Haliburton put up a stinker with four points and five assists in a blowout loss at home that temporarily gave the Cavaliers hope. After he painted his Mona Lisa in Game 4 of the East finals against the Knicks — that perfect 32-15-12 game — he followed it up with eight points and six assists in a 111-94 Game 5 loss. This one followed the exact same script, even if Game 1 wasn't a statistical marvel. The Thunder just applied extra attention and Haliburton was content in not forcing the action. 'They're really physical, force the officials to let us play a little bit more,' Haliburton said. 'Gotta do a better job of playing through there.' There was light hinting by the Pacers about the Thunder being given more leeway physically, but nothing close to anything being fine-worthy. Haliburton's words were the strongest on the matter. We haven't reached the 'plant a seed with the officials' stage of the Finals quite yet, although a similar performance in Game 3 could produce some crowing from veteran coach Rick Carlisle. Carlisle wanted to take the spotlight off the 25-year-old point guard and focus on the Pacers' lack of production as a whole. Advertisement 'There's a lot more to the game than just scoring, so everybody's gotta do more,' Carlisle said. 'It starts with the best players, with Tyrese and Pascal [Siakam] and Myles [Turner] and it goes from there. People shouldn't look at his points and assists and judge how he played, or judge how any of our guys played. 'We're an ecosystem that has to function together.' Haliburton is the biggest cog in the ecosystem, but is also the player the Thunder are best equipped to handle with physical play. Lu Dort and Jalen Williams are on the All-Defensive team, and Alex Caruso might as well be — there's no rest or easy matchup for Haliburton to pick at. And with Siakam struggling to create his own offense (3-for-13 shooting), the Pacers' options to get reliable shots dwindle. It sounds simple, but the Pacers do have to screen better to spring Haliburton while he's on the ball. Caruso and Dort navigate screens as well as anyone in the league, so the Pacers have to walk the line of being physical without drawing too much of the ire from the officials. Advertisement 'Screening, there's an art to it,' Turner said. 'You have to be able to set the guy up. It's a matter of timing it and getting on the same page. There's plenty of stuff we can do. But I don't think we did a good enough job of executing.' Haliburton was far more aggressive in the fourth quarter when he played off the ball a lot more, which might be what Carlisle was hinting at when referring to an ecosystem. He's not the point guard who needs to control every possession and it's a gift in not being in the same spot all the time. That's how the Thunder were able to corral Anthony Edwards in the conference finals. They knew exactly where he would be at all times. Advertisement 'We had some success in me playing off the pitch, flying around, rather than that high-ball screen, which I feel I'm really successful at,' Haliburton said. The problem is, the Thunder are excellent at defending that and, by playing smaller, they can switch and chase, matching the speed of the Pacers' offense with some of their own. 'That gives them a chance to load up, pack the paint," Haliburton said. "They got a couple steals in there, I had some really dumb turnovers tonight. They're giving me different looks.' He's not running from accountability or the moment. It's just the moment isn't as easy as it looks and it's doubly hard to repeat such rare feats. Problem is, the Pacers need three more of those rarities just to have a shot.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
NBA》亞歷山大一戰狂創多項紀錄比肩喬丹、Kobe 總冠軍戰前2戰72分成史上第一
總冠軍戰G2今（9）日開打，雷霆靠著當家MVP亞歷山大(Shai Gilgeous-Alexander)全場轟下34分、5籃板、8助攻、4抄截，終場以123比107痛宰溜馬，將系列戰扳成1比1平手。其中，亞歷山大一戰更創多項紀錄，甚至單賽季達到3000分，成為史上第12人。 本季新科MVP的亞歷山大，在本戰再次展現強大進攻能力，全場狂轟34分、5籃板、8助攻、4抄截帶領雷霆扳平戰局，而今天拿下34分之後，更以總冠軍賽前兩戰累積72分，打破艾佛森（Allen Iverson）原本保持的71分紀錄，締造NBA長達79年的新歷史。 72 POINTS THROUGH 2 FINALS GAMES ?The MOST by any player EVER to begin a Finals career!!More history for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ? — NBA (@NBA) June 9, 2025 此外，亞歷山大也達成單季3000分的里程碑，包括例行賽和季後賽，成為聯盟史上第12人，過去包括「籃球之神」喬丹（Michael Jordan）、歐尼爾（Shaquille O'Neal）和布萊恩（Kobe Bryant）都曾達成過。同時，亞歷山大成為史上第4位例行賽與季後賽達到3000分，也同一個賽季獲得例行賽MVP的球員，前三名分別是喬丹、歐尼爾與杜蘭特（Kevin Durant）。 3K for SGA ?Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the 12th player in history to reach 3,000 points in an NBA season, regular-season and playoffs. — The Athletic (@TheAthletic) June 9, 2025 另一方面，亞歷山大今年季後賽已經3次至少連續4場得分30+，成為聯盟第一名做到的球員。對於第一場失利後，本戰展現何種決心？亞歷山大賽後受訪則表示，籃球是一場有起有伏的比賽，整個賽季充滿了起起落落，一輪系列賽也是如此，關鍵在於哪支球隊能夠保持冷靜，並在這些經歷中不斷進步，最終脫穎而出。這就是我們的目標，在每一次經歷中變得更好，我們上一場比賽做到了這一點，第三場比賽我們也必須重複這一點。 更多新聞推薦 • 更多》NBA最新報導
