Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is clearly one of the best players in the NBA. He said as much earlier this postseason. However, he has struggled in a huge way in the fourth quarter of the Eastern Conference Finals and Friday’s Game 2 matchup was no exception.
The Celtics came into the fourth quarter with an eight-point lead. That quickly evaporated in large part due to Tatum’s struggles on offense.
He failed to make a shot from the field in the quarter, scoring his only five points in the quarter from the free-throw line while there was very little time in the game.
Miami went on an 18-4 run late in the fourth to come away with a 111-105 victory.
IT'S AN 18-4 RUN FOR THE HEAT 🔥 pic.twitter.com/MP8qQuOVnR
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 20, 2023
It is the second game in a row that Tatum did not record a field goal in the fourth quarter, a troubling trend if the Celtics have any hopes of winning this series.
Jayson Tatum has failed to make a field goal in the 4th Quarter through the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals pic.twitter.com/dCYkuRfDLp
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) May 20, 2023
The four-time All-Star is clearly far too good of a player for this to happen. This led to him receiving a ton of criticism from the NBA world on social media.
Jayson Tatum's fourth-quarter struggles continue 😳 pic.twitter.com/xG4yocA7ho
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 20, 2023
Jayson Tatum humbly hit as many fourth-quarter shots as the 17,000 in attendance tonight, again.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) May 20, 2023
Jayson Tatum has ZERO made FG’s in the fourth quarter in this series 😬 pic.twitter.com/nkbT0TY4p4
— Ahn Fire Digital (@AhnFireDigital) May 20, 2023
Jayson Tatum had zero fourth-quarter field goals for a second straight game.
— WEEI (@WEEI) May 20, 2023
Jayson Tatum has made *checks notes* zero shots in the fourth quarter of these first two games.
Three fouls and five turnovers, though.
— Bobby Belt (@BobbyBeltTX) May 20, 2023
Tatum wasn’t the only star on his team who was shut down in the fourth. Jaylen Brown also failed to record a field goal in the disastrous quarter.
It’s gonna be really hard to win many postseason games when both Tatum and Brown play like that down the stretch. Boston now finds itself down 2-0 in the series with a ton of questions that need to be answered. The Celtics will head to Miami for the next two games of the series.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.