ESPN analyst Jay Williams called out Jayson Tatum after he had only four shot attempts in the second half of Game 1

The Boston Celtics dropped Game 1 at home last night, 123-116 to the Miami Heat. At halftime, the Celtics had a nine-point lead. Miami scored 46 points in the third and Boston had to claw back to stay in the game. On ESPN’s Get Up this morning, analyst Jay Williams called out Jayson Tatum after he had only four shot attempts in the second half. 

Four-time all-star Jayson Tatum led Boston in scoring last night with 30 points in 41 minutes played. He scored 18 of his 30 points in the first half and only took four shot attempts in the second half. Tatum had zero attempts in the fourth quarter. The Celtics could not match the three-point shooting of the Miami Heat last night.

After the Game 1 loss, NBA betting sites have the Celtics at (-400) to win Game 2 tomorrow night. Look for Tatum to be more assertive late in Game 2.

"There is no way in hell he can have four shots in the second half…this team goes the way Jayson Tatum goes."

Jay Williams on the Celtics' leader JT being gunshy in Game 1 🗣

(via @GetUpESPN)pic.twitter.com/NhEDfxg10y

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 18, 2023

Jayson Tatum has zero shot attempts in the fourth quarter of Game 1 last night

This morning, ESPN studio analyst Jay Williams called out Boston’s superstar Jayson Tatum for his lack of assertiveness in the second half. In Boston’s previous game, Tatum had 51 points in Game 7 vs the Philadelphia 76ers. The 25-year-old was dominant all game long and the Celtics needed that from him last night.

After starting the second half off on the wrong side of a 21-12 run, head coach Joe Mazzulla was not happy with his team’s defensive intensity. All-star SG Jaylen Brown commented on the same issue after the game and said their game plan tomorrow night needs to be defensive.

Tatum has had some issues scoring in the 2023 playoffs. He’s still averaging (28.3) points per game, but at times he is not scoring when the team needs him to. In their second-round series vs the Sixers, Tatum struggled to score in the first half of certain games. He had just three points through the first three-quarters of Game 6 vs Philly. However, he would score 16 of his 19 points in the fourth and four clutch three-pointers to extend that series to Game 7.