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The Boston Celtics have Kyrie Irving and Al Horford to create plays. They don’t need Tatum to cook all the time. But the teenager has still shown a complete offensive arsenal this season, and Saturday night might have been his best showcase yet.

During a 102-93 win against the Memphis Grizzlies, Tatum finished with 19 points and nine rebounds, hit 7 of 13 shots from the field, and nailed both of his 3-pointers. After the Celtics entered the fourth quarter with a two-point deficit, Tatum and Al Horford — on the court to help stabilize a bench unit — led a 16-0 run to essentially bury the Grizzlies.

You can see how much Tatum produced just by looking at the box score, but only the tape could help explain why so many Celtics fans are drooling over the 19-year-old’s long-term prospects.

MassLive: Jayson Tatum brought out all the tricks to help Boston Celtics overcome Memphis Grizzlies

Let’s look at the tape, then.

Little by little we’re seeing more out of Jayson Tatum. For most of his 32 game NBA life, he’s been content to catch and shoot threes and then attack closeouts and get to the rim for the bulk of his scoring. There hasn’t been a ton of shot creation on his own.

Last night, though, he dipped into some of that iso ability.

ISO Tatum 🔥🔥🔥 https://t.co/wIj0OJZ8WX

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 17, 2017

I don’t recall seeing much of that at all this season. Maybe all this time playing with Kyrie is drawing something out of him but he’s not been a shake-and-bake pull up jumper kind of guy in the NBA.

And he’s doing this a lot more often…

[protected-iframe id=”6f989d36ed5e7cbf7a031d9ca3826471-114320562-1227608″ info=”https://i.imgflip.com/218ggv.gif” ]

We also haven’t seen much of him using the pick and roll to get into a pull up three. According NBA.com, Tatum has 16 pull up three-point attempts this season, but nine of them have come this month. This is an important development because this changes how he has to be defended in the pick and roll. And as I’ve said before, the key to the pick and roll is being unpredictable. If defenses don’t have a clear tendency to defend, then all sorts of options open up. If there’s a risk of pulling up behind the screen for a three, especially when you’re currently shooting 51% to lead the league, then defenses have to find a way to account for that. When they do, stuff like this happens

Great find by the rook 👀 https://t.co/AewBU4fFeq

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 17, 2017

We have to understand that Tatum is slowly gathering information, processing it, and developing counter-attacks to what he’s seen. We’ve talked about him only being 19 for a long time but that’s not just a number to illustrate how young he is. It’s a reminder that he’s not seen NBA defenses until the past couple of months.

College defense is nowhere near as sophisticated as it is in the NBA. From the level of individual opponents to the advanced concepts, NBA defenses present intense challenges for a new, young player. For Tatum to show such an early adaptation to what he’s seeing is especially impressive.

In a way, I want NBA defenses to start to figure Tatum out. I want them to find holes in his game because he can then react to that and evolve his game even further. Sometimes failure is the best teacher of all, and if he can recognize what’s being done to stop him, he can work on something to beat that new coverage.

To Tatum’s credit, he’s followed his few really bad games with good ones. He sucked in Chicago but came back with a good game against Denver. Then he sucked against Utah but rebounded with a great game in Memphis. Tatum still hasn’t had two straight single-digit scoring performances.

We get so caught up in the day-to-day that we forget Tatum’s game is just a bud poking its way through the ground. There’s so much left for him to learn that we don’t even know if the things he does well now are the things he’ll rely on down the road. It’s going to fun to watch.

Related links: NBCS Boston: Stars, studs and duds: Tatum is not your average rookie

Page 2: Let’s just get through this…

“It’s the schedule we have, so we’re looking forward to playing what we have to play,” coach Brad Stevens said last night. “The London thing, when you look at it, you see the challenges that come along with it, but it’s a great experience for our players. Great experience for the organization. The last time being in Madrid and Milan opened your eyes to the Celtics and the following overseas.

“It is what it is from a numbers standpoint and the amount of games right now. We’ll just keep playing them, and like we did early in the week we might mix in some rest days for guys, because it is the most unique part of our schedule for sure.”

Herald: Upcoming trip to London may leave C’s in a fog

The Celtics are playing 17 games this month. They will reach game 40 on the schedule, one shy of HALF their entire season, on December 31.

The Celtics still have three more back-to-backs before they FINALLY catch a break heading into the London game. They have 11 more games to play over the next three weeks.

So expect fatigue and sloppy play. Expect them to fade at the end of some games. Expect guys to sit out parts of back-to-backs to rest (or rehab a phantom quad injury). Expect some more up-and-down play from the rookies who are getting crushed by the travel schedule.

Tatum, the rookie forward from Duke, played in his 32nd game Saturday night, about the amount of a regular season college game. And, he acknowledged, he can tell the difference. “It’s tough,” he said. “The traveling, playing back-to-backs. It’s still an adjustment. I’m still trying to get used to it. I’m just trying to rest as much as possible.”

Let’s just get through this and hope for the best. I’ll be very happy if they can go something like 7-4 over this 11 game stretch.

And Finally…

Daniel Theis surprised everyone by actually getting out there and playing with his broken nose. It’s not all over yet, though, for Theis.

“I can’t keep track of all our facial gear right now,” quipped Stevens. “We’re just glad he (Theis) is OK.”

Stevens said Theis will have to get his nose re-set at some point soon which would result in him likely missing a day or two.

Still, it says a lot about Theis’ willingness to still play despite an injury that for most players, results in them missing a game or two right away.

“It looked like he may have just got hit on the bridge,” Stevens said. “He feels good otherwise, he says.”

He’s a tough kid. The Celtics need all the minutes they can get out of everyone… so I wonder if the re-setting can wait until the London trip. I’m going to guess not because that’s still a few weeks away and I’m not sure they want to wait that long to reset a broken nose.

Theis was a good signing for Boston. He’s giving them better minutes than I expected earlier this year.

The rest of the links

NBCS Boston: Increased usage of starters helps fuel Celtics victory over Grizzlies

MassLive: With Marcus Morris out, Brad Stevens unveils new lineup — and it drops huge run on Memphis Grizzlies | Al Horford, Jayson Tatum help Boston Celtics surge past stubborn Memphis Grizzlies for 102-93 win | Brad Stevens picked fired Memphis Grizzlies coach’s brain this summer, considers David Fizdale ‘one of the best’

Herald: Celtics got what they expected to see in Utah’s Donovan Mitchell | Murphy: Ex-Cavaliers coach David Pratt salute’s Kyrie Irving’s move forward to Celtics, happiness

BSJ: 5 thoughts on a bounceback Celtics win over the Grizzlies

Globe: Celtics rebound by repelling Grizzlies | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on and off the court

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