NBA analyst Doris Burke thinks Jaylen Brown has ‘closed the gap’ between Jayson Tatum and himself in terms of difference level

For Jayson Tatum, the starts to his postseason games in 2023 have not been good, to say the least. He has missed 14 straight shots in the first quarter, the longest such streak of his career. His current slump is one miss away from matching the longest streak by a player in the postseason over the last 25 years. That is why NBA analyst Doris Burke thinks Jaylen Brown has “closed the gap” between Tatum and himself. 

Despite scoring 36 points in Boston’s Game 5 loss at home, Jayson Tatum went 0-5 in the first quarter and only scored two points. They came off free throw attempts and his poor shooting helped the Sixers jump out to a big lead last night. One that the Celtics never recovered from.

Boston has their backs against the wall as they face possible elimination. Game 6 will be played in Philadelphia and the Celtics need a win to save their season.

"I think Jaylen Brown has closed the gap a little bit in terms of the difference level between he and Jayson Tatum."

– Doris Burke

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— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) May 10, 2023

Jayson Tatum has played inconsistent against the Sixers in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals

According to Doris Burke, Jaylen Brown has closed the gap in terms of the difference level between Jayson Tatum and himself. Brown hasn’t scored more than 25 points per game in this series, but his play has been consistent. Tatum has not been as consistent and it’s clear he is struggling this series.

He went 11-27 last night and ended up with just 36 points. A number of his misses came from deep where he shot just 3-11 last night. Tatum was heaving threes to try and keep Boston in the game, but they weren’t falling. An awful (.273) percent from deep.

Tatum scored 13 in the second quarter and 16 in the third after just two points in the first. However, Boston was down double-digits for nearly the entire second half. With 10:23 left in the third, the Celtics never trimmed Philly’s lead to less than 11 points. Jayson Tatum needs to get in the zone for Game 6 so he can start the game off strong. It will not be easy as Game 6 is in Philadelphia.