In a recent promotion of the Superman movie, the hook posed to the civilians questioned, if the hero was to take a day off, “Who will replace Superman?” Jayson Tatum, playing himself, tears his buttoned shirt and answers the call. Jayson Tatum… is the hero. But who knew irony would hit the Boston Celtics locker room just as hard! Entering the TD Garden for the second series of the 2025 NBA playoffs, the home team has lost not once, but twice to the visiting New York Knicks. And unlike how he saved the day in that Superman ad, Jayson has not been able to play the hero in real life. And one mistake he will remember for a long time if they lose this series, would be his very last one of the game 2.

After Jalen Brunson downed two free throws after drawing a foul on Jrue Holiday, with 12.7 seconds left on the game clock, Jayson grabbed the incoming ball to run the same play the Celtics made where he made a big dunk a few minutes ago. But while Boston would’ve wanted to play it same, New York didn’t. They defended it differently, evolving after learning from their previous mistake. Knicks’ best defender OG Anunoby back-screened into the half court so Al Horford couldn’t screen him. And as Jayson tried to run against Mitchell Robinson, he ran into Anunoby’s help and in an attempt to pass the ball to Brown, ended it in Mikal Bridges’ hands. The Knicks star threw the ball in the air to run the clock. Knicks won 90-91.

With the two straight losses for the defending champions in the East semifinals, the Celtics are the first team in the 29 years of the play-by-play era to lose multiple playoff games it led by at least 20 points. And at the center of it all is their superstar player– Jayson Tatum– who has not been able to step up in clutch moments, defined as a scenario when the game is within five points in the final five minutes. In fact, he is 1 for 7 on field-goal attempts in clutch situations. HC Joe Mazzulla had to face the reality. He concluded in the post-game presser, “I think it’s on us.” And to tackle the situation, he might go on an unconventional route that not many would take given the 2-0 situation. At least, Austin Rivers of the Off-Guard podcast believes so.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Joe Mazzulla today- there’s no practice… All right. We’re going to put that video on and we’re going to watch some f—— film. And we’re going to watch a couple minutes of both games in the first half and how we were playing. And then we’re going to watch the entirety of these runs- the second half, especially the fourth quarter. We’re gonna go by each shot and judge- is this our basketball? Are we doing the best clock management? This is for the coach too, everybody. It was abysmal,” said Rivers on his podcast.

In both their games for second round against the Knicks, there’s no doubt why Boston is failing. They shot just 20% from the field in the fourth quarter of both games and averaged a measly 16.5 points in that final frame. Even more unfortunate is the fact that while the Celtics as a whole have not been able to bounce back late in these games, it is Jayson who has been the focus.

Tatum is just 2-of-13 in the fourth quarter and overtime of those games. He’s had some awful misses and turnovers, including one on the last play of Game 2. The biggest reason for that is New York’s primary defender, Anunoby. He is one of the best defenders in the league, and even though Jayson too is one of the best isolation players, Anunoby is clearly holding him off. So far, it’s 1 of 7 shooting as per NBA stats. And that final turnover that pushed the Knicks 2-0. So no doubt, Mazzulla, over practicing again with a team who knows how to go about such situations, would rather have them study what they need to avoid and improve on instead.

Jayson Tatum was arguably the talk of the town. And it speaks volumes when you see his numbers. But the numbers won’t spare him any blushes. And surprisingly, it was a moment of hesitation deep in the game that made him the talk of this imaginary town. A little uncharacteristic, no?

Jayson Tatum’s moment of panic costed Celtics the game

JT ended the night with a 13 points-14 rebounds double-double. Impressive, right? The Green Mamba is a double-double machine- he did it in the first game too with 23/16. But then came the moment of panic in the last 5 seconds of the game, in which a moment of impulse saw Mikal Bridges steal the ball off him, in which could’ve been the game-decider. Rivers took this as the opportunity to reflect on the lean Green hero, speaking of how uncharacteristic it was.

“He had Mitchell Robinson on him, a center, who was already like sporadic, because he’s not used to being in that situation. And he just like panicked and like dribbled all the way around and got to a corner and then didn’t know if he wanted, I was like, where does he go… If he wants to say he lost the ball, you want him to like back out, like I got five. That’s a lot of time. Five is like, bro five seconds feels like an eternity at end of the game.

“You could get to a couple moves, step back, you get anywhere you want to go. Just like relax. But he like panicked. So it’s just like, I watched that move, I’m like goddamn JT. I’ve seen you close, how many game winners have I seen you hit this year,” said Rivers on Tatum on the podcast.

Going from 45.2% from the field and 34.3% from the beyond the arc to 5-for-19 from the field and 1-for-5 from deep is truly uncharacteristic. But it’s not the end of the world. First, it starts with accountability. And we’re already there, when he said “I take full ownership for the way that I’ve played in this series. Can’t sugar coat anything. I need to be better. And I expect to be a lot better.” Now, it’s up to him to show the critics what he’s made of, and do only what the Green Mamba can do.

No one’s counting out the Celtics right now. Joe Mazzulla’s group of champions has the maturity to reflect, and watch the films to find areas to improve in. And a lot of that lies on Jayson Tatum. Do you think we’ll see a vintage Green Mamba performance at the Garden on Saturday or will the Knicks become his Kryptonite?