How Tatum picked apart Miami’s defense for Game-High 10 Assists

Jayson Tatum scored his first career playoff triple-double as he led Boston to a 114-94 victory in Sunday’s Game 1 against Miami. He assisted on eight of the team’s first twelve points as they opened the match on a 12-0 run (and eventually a 14-0 run).

The path Tatum took to record his ten assists was not a linear one. He generated open looks for the Celtics in a variety of ways while navigating Miami’s complex defense. So, let’s take a look at the different ways in which the superstar wing set his teammates up for success during the match.

Boston went to Tatum in the post on the very first possession of the game, which is typically a statement of how a team is going to approach a game. Tatum sets up Caleb Martin and as he makes his move, he draws not one, not two, but three defenders.

Tatum missed the dunk but grabbed his own rebound, and as a result of the attention he attracted on his first move, he was given a pick-em opportunity to which teammate he should pass to for an open 3-pointer. Options included Jaylen Brown at left wing, Derrick White at the top of the arc and Jrue Holiday at right wing. He chose Brown, and Brown promptly hit the triple for the first points of the game.

As Nikola Jokvic said after Game 1, “Last year it was easier (to defend the Celtics) because they didn’t have (Kristaps) Porzingis.” Porzingis’ presence as a 7-foot big man who can shoot has troubled Miami’s defense all season, including Sunday afternoon.

That’s why Tatum made it a point to hit KP with entry passes as often as possible to get the big man to work. He did this on the possession above when he saw Porzingis being defended by 6-foot-2 Tyler Herro. If Tatum can find KP in those types of matchups, it’s almost an automatic bucket. It’s as simple as taking the photo.

And the same here, in the clip above.

This time it’s Porzingis who posts up, draws a double team and kicks to Tatum at the top of the arc. This puts Miami’s defense in scramble mode.

When Tatum catches this ball, he has two options: shoot it over the rotating defender (Martin), or pass to an even more open teammate (Jrue Holiday). Most superstars would take the free shot, but Tatum makes a “one more” pass to Holiday, who promptly drills the 3.

This is my favorite play of the day from Tatum. Just an absurd skip pass to Sam Hauser through heavy traffic – right on the money for a wide open 3.

Look at the floor as Holiday completes his screen for Tatum. He is effectively imprisoned by Herro and Haywood Highsmith. No one is really “open” to go. But Tatum knows exactly what Al Horford is going to do, and that’s the basket, which will not only pull Adebayo out of position but also leave room for Hauser to lift to. Tatum sees it happen before it even happens, then throws a laser on the money to Hauser for an open triple.

Now let’s see how Tatum takes the ball off the dribble and gives simple instructions to experienced teammates for baskets. First, there’s this assist to Derrick White for an uncontested 3. Tatum is picked up in transition by Adebayo and immediately goes to work with a rip-through and blow-by to the basket. He beats Adebayo with his first dribble and catches Jaime Jaquez Jr. inside, which helps him in defense.

This is as simple as it gets. Beat your man off the dribble, draw two defenders and make it easy for a pass to an open 40 percent 3-point shooter. Three points, all day.

Here’s another play on the dribble, with a little more nuance. Horford runs a pick-and-pop with Tatum in a deadly situation for Miami as the two bigs are involved in the action. Instead of leaving an aging Kevin Love on an island to defend Tatum, Adebayo promises to trap Tatum along with Love.

Tatum already feels the trap developing here. So he just drags it out and floats off into space on the right wing. This does not happen without intention; Tatum knows exactly where he is going and where it will lead. Once he takes full advantage of Adebayo and Love and creates space and a passing lane to Horford, he delivers a perfect pass back to the big man – another 40 percent 3-point shooter – for another open 3.

We already saw an example where Tatum passed a teammate openly. The pass above to Hauser was not thrown to where Hauser was, but where Hauser was will be. Look at it again carefully.

Here’s another example of an open pass to a teammate. This is Tatum’s 10^e and last assist of the day. A lazy pass would have simply ended up in White’s hands as White stood a few feet behind the three-point line while his defenseman, Delon Wright, was given a smaller gap to close to challenge the shot. Look at where White and his defender are when Tatum starts the passing move.

Now look where White and his defender are when White catches the ball.

Tatum has shown throughout his career that he is more than capable of beating opponents with his passing. That skill has been accentuated this season with the addition of even more skills around him in Boston’s lineup. He’s averaging a career-high 4.9 assists per game this season, and with that in mind, we can all expect a lot of dimes from him this postseason as he picks defenses apart in a variety of ways.