Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum (0) gestures after scoring against the Miami Heat during the first half of an NBA conference final playoff basketball game, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
MANILA, Philippines—Jason Tatum took the blame for the Boston Celtics’ latest loss to Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals after a disastrous first half performance.
The All-Star forward finished with 28 points in the Celtics’ 112-109 Game 4 loss but he went 0-of-6 in the first half, forcing them to fight for possession of the lead for much of the contest.
“It’s win or go home time. I wish we would have played like that from the start. I take a lot of blame, you know, I didn’t play like myself in the first half. So I’ve got to be better to start the game off on both ends,” said Tatum as per ESPN.
The Celtics are now in a win or go home situation with the Heat a win away from returning to the NBA Finals at 3-1.
Boston have held the lead for 75 percent of the minutes but lost the first two games of the series that triggered a hyper emotional confrontation in the locker room after Game 2.
Although the Celtics bounced back in Game 3 with a 117-106 win, but that energy was missing in Game 4.
The Celtics had a penchant of starting strong but that didn’t seem to be the case in the fourth game as they looked in disarray in offense and also in defense.
Miami played just eight of its players in Game 4 and four of those scored at least 20 points with Tyler Herro torhcing the Celtics for 37 points on 14-of-21 shooting, one less field goal attempt than Tatum.
“Simple answer is just we’ve got to be better. We know what’s at stake, we know what’s on the line, and we’ve got to play a complete game,” said Tatum.