Following their defeat by the Timberwolves, Jayson Tatum, a star player for the Celtics, acknowledged that they needed to handle the ball better.
From the beginning of the season until now, every analyst had the Boston Celtics as a legitimate contender for the championship. The Celtics, led by Jayson Tatum, have the best offensive line in the league thus far, but they will put their offense to the test early in the season on Monday night when they play the Minnesota Timberwolves, who have the best defensive rating.
And the Timberwolves really tested the league-leading offense of the Celtics. The Celtics shot a pitiful 39.1 percent from the field and 28.2 percent from beyond the arc in the end. They were frequently forced to settle for tough shots because Rudy Gobert, Jaden McDaniels, and Anthony Edwards were so oppressive on defense.
Ultimately, Jayson Tatum and the Celtics lost their opening game of the season, falling to the Timberwolves 114-109 in overtime. Despite this setback, there are still many valuable lessons that the team can learn from this experience as it goes on. One such lesson, in Tatum’s opinion, is that after what happened to them on Monday night, they need to be able to handle the basketball much better.
Indeed, there were far too many turnovers. “I have to improve, we all have to improve,” Tatum remarked after the game, chuckling when Jared Weiss of The Athletic questioned him about the team’s offensive execution in crucial situations.
In addition to throwing an erroneous pass with 2:15 remaining in the fourth quarter and missing a pass to Al Horford with four possessions remaining and a chance to take the lead, Jayson Tatum committed six turnovers on the night. Before Horford gave it away, Jrue Holiday also made a costly turnover in the possession. After Tatum coughed the ball once more during overtime, Jaylen Brown joined in on the fun after committing a charging foul.
The Timberwolves outscored the Celtics in turnovers during the game, but the timing of their turnovers was critical; these errors just could not occur with the game in the balance, and on Monday night, Boston learned that lesson the hard way.
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