logo
Should the Boston Celtics worry about Jayson Tatum's late-season shooting slump?

Should the Boston Celtics worry about Jayson Tatum's late-season shooting slump?

USA Today16-04-2025

Should the Boston Celtics worry about Jayson Tatum's late-season shooting slump?
Should the Boston Celtics worry about Jayson Tatum's late-season shooting slump heading into the 2025 NBA Playoffs? So far, the St. Louis native is shooting just 34.4% from beyond the arc in the 2024-25 NBA regular season as a whole, and when you dial in on the months of March and April in particular, the picture gets even hairier.
In March, the Duke alum shot a concerning 31.3% from deep, and alarmingly, well under 30% from 3-point range so far in the month of April. Is this going to continue into the postseason, and how worried ought we to be about it?
The eponymous host of the "Hoops Tonight with Jason Timpf" recently gave his two cents on the matter on an episode of his show. Check it out below!
If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," "Celtics Lab," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.
Listen to the "Celtics Lab" podcast on:
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Analysis: After refusing to bottom out, the top is near for Pacers
Analysis: After refusing to bottom out, the top is near for Pacers

Miami Herald

time10 minutes ago

  • Miami Herald

Analysis: After refusing to bottom out, the top is near for Pacers

As an exasperated NBA continues its never-ending quest to stamp out tanking, here come the Indiana Pacers rising from the debris of mediocrity, right on cue. There is a long-held belief in the NBA that the worst place to be is stuck in the middle: never bad enough to be in a position to draft top talent, but never quite good enough to compete for championships. It's Interstate 405 in Los Angeles, and it's rush hour. The league has increased its efforts in recent years to abolish tanking. It can use the Pacers as proof that it is possible to win big without it. Indiana is returning to the finals for the first time in 25 years after plenty of seasons spent stuck in the middle, but it has never entered a season trying to lose. Oh, there have been plenty of losses along the way. Indiana won 25 games in Rick Carlisle's return season, but it was a year derailed by injuries. In this case, intent matters. The Pacers began the 2021-22 season with playoff aspirations but became sellers at the trade deadline, sending Caris LeVert to the Cleveland Cavaliers for picks and acquiring Tyrese Haliburton from the Sacramento Kings in a separate deal that reshaped their future. At no point did the franchise enter a season with the idea of playing for lottery odds instead of wins. Not when Larry Bird was there as an executive, not when Frank Vogel coached, not when Carlisle was there the first time, and certainly not now. They have been tempted. The Pacers came close to acquiring Russell Westbrook's massive expiring contract in 2022 and picking up a first-round pick for the team owner Herb Simon's willingness to pay him. But such a move would have been a concession that the Pacers were giving up and bottoming out. The deal collapsed when the Lakers refused to add another first-rounder, and Myles Turner remained in Indianapolis. Now they are thrilled to still have him. Players never compete intending to lose, of course. But front offices can rig rosters so winning is nearly impossible. The Pacers never did that. In fact, throughout the last quarter-century, they have been more of a model for exactly how not to compete for an NBA championship. They made the playoffs in nine of the 10 seasons from 2010-11 to 2019-20 but advanced to the conference finals only twice. They were eliminated in the first round five consecutive years -- the definition of milquetoast. That was during the era of superteams and when LeBron James reigned in the East. Now the Pacers are thriving with healthy organizational development. Bennedict Mathurin and Jarace Walker were top 10 selections. The rest of this roster was constructed with midround picks or lower, aggressive trades, economical free-agent signings and a touch of patience. They resisted the urge to give up on Turner too soon. They gambled on Haliburton when they traded away Domantas Sabonis, who made a pair of All-Star Games while with the Pacers. They gambled on Pascal Siakam, trading three first-round picks for a player who was close to free agency. Siakam was the most valuable player of the conference finals and is still wearing Pacers colors. The Pacers have not paid the luxury tax since 2006. They have not picked in the top five since 1988. Yet they played for the NBA Cup and advanced to the conference finals last season, and now they are four wins from an NBA championship. Rarely have teams beaten a pair of 60-win teams to win a title. The Houston Rockets were the last to do it, in 1994. If the Pacers conquer the Thunder -- Game 1 of the NBA Finals is Thursday night in Oklahoma City -- Indiana will become the first team in NBA history to beat a pair of 64-win teams on the way to a ring. They eliminated the 64-win Cavaliers in the second round, and the Thunder won 68 games this season. Similarly, Indiana can eliminate seven All-NBA players in this postseason. It ended the seasons of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. Still to come are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams. Considering Haliburton was a third-team All-NBA selection, the Pacers could eliminate half of the remaining All-NBA players this postseason. They might not be the dominant monsters of dynasties past, but this has a chance to become a historic run of success nonetheless. This is exactly how the league wants teams to build now. What did not seem feasible when stars were teaming up in desirable markets now might be the best path forward: try hard, compete, draft wisely and organically develop talent the hard way. It is how the Denver Nuggets won two years ago. It is how the Pacers are doing it now. The last two lottery winners cashed in odds of 3% or less to win the No. 1 pick, an indication the current system is working as the league intended since flattening the lottery odds again in 2019. In the seven lotteries since, a team with the best odds won the first pick four times. The other three winners were long shots. Losing assures nothing. Tanking will probably never be abolished, but the NBA is much closer to its end goal than it was a decade ago. The Pacers never tried to lose. Now they're on the cusp, finally, of winning big. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Copyright 2025

What can the Boston Celtics learn from the Oklahoma City Thunder?
What can the Boston Celtics learn from the Oklahoma City Thunder?

USA Today

time42 minutes ago

  • USA Today

What can the Boston Celtics learn from the Oklahoma City Thunder?

What can the Boston Celtics learn from the Oklahoma City Thunder? What can the Boston Celtics learn from the Oklahoma City Thunder? The Thunder are about to face off against the Indiana Pacers in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, and with a veritable haul of assets and a host of young players already on the roster, looking poised to contend for the short- and medium-term future. The Celtics, on the other hand, find themselves pondering major changes to their top-heavy roster in an offseason that arrived much earlier than expected, knocked out of the postseason in the 2025 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals second round series they lost to the New York Knicks. The hosts of the CLNS Media "The Big Three NBA" podcast, A. Sherrod Blakely, Gary Washburn, and Kwani Lunis, took some time on a recent episode of their show to talk it over. 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:

Yaxel Lendeborg discusses Michigan basketball roster, sets Final Four goal for 2025
Yaxel Lendeborg discusses Michigan basketball roster, sets Final Four goal for 2025

USA Today

timean hour ago

  • USA Today

Yaxel Lendeborg discusses Michigan basketball roster, sets Final Four goal for 2025

Yaxel Lendeborg discusses Michigan basketball roster, sets Final Four goal for 2025 Yaxel Lendeborg isn't wasting any time getting acclimated to Michigan basketball. The No. 1 player in the transfer portal had committed to the Wolverines earlier in the process, despite still appearing to be NBA-bound as he departed UAB. Yet, he ended up withdrawing and will play in Ann Arbor for one season after all. As it turns out, he already has a pretty good idea of what the roster looks like, what it can do, and how it can help him improve as a player. "I feel like I have a pretty good knowledge of it right now," Lendeborg told Brian Boesch on the Defend the Block Podcast. "I know our bigs are really athletic, really long shot blockers. A lot of us are pretty good rebounders, so it's going to be a little bit of a battle on the boards. "We have Elliot Cadeau, who's -- I think they said, the best passer, the best passer in college basketball, which is amazing as well. Something that I could probably try to take from him, just see what he sees on the floor, something to learn about. And, we have a lot of good shooters like Nimari Burnett. I think they said he shot 45 percent, which is ridiculous. "We just got Trey (McKenney), (Mr.) Basketball -- you know, that's great. I haven't looked into many of the other guys as much, but I know that we have a good roster formulated, and we have a lot of length, which is something great as well." Coming from UAB, Lendeborg isn't used to his team having high and lofty expectations. But the Wolverines are coming off a Big Ten Tournament championship and a Sweet 16 run. Now, those expectations are risin,g and the program is aiming higher. With Lendeborg on the roster, that helps elevate the program, as well. And he's not shying away from heightened prospects when it comes to what the maize and blue can do in 2025-26. "Oh, yeah. I'm super excited," Lendeborg said. "You know, "I feel like it's giving me more of a chip on my shoulder to try to be the best that I can be, just not let the fans down, not let the people that support us down, you know. So I am super excited. I'm happy to get up to that stage. I made a promise as well that I want to at least take us to the Final Four. So, I'm going to do whatever I can to get us there." Lendeborg joins transfers Cadeau, Morez Johnson Jr., and Aday Mara, as well as freshmen McKenney, Winters Grady, and Patrick Liburd as new faces who will reshape the Michigan basketball roster in 2025-26.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store