USA Today via Reuters
Mar 28, 2023; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) looks on against the Washington Wizards during the first half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports | Courtesy: Reuters
USA Today via Reuters
Mar 28, 2023; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) looks on against the Washington Wizards during the first half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports | Courtesy: Reuters
The Boston Celtics are off to a red-hot start this season. They have won all five of their games so far and are the only undefeated team in the league. A big reason for the Celtics? early season success is the elite performance of their superstar, Jayson Tatum. He is the primary scorer for the Celtics and has started the season in incredible form. Tatum scored a game-high 32 points in tonight?s win over the Brooklyn Nets.
Although Jayson Tatum might look invincible because of his insane scoring performances, there is still one weakness that he might have to work on in order to take his game to the next level.
Jayson Tatum?s 32-point performance was missing something
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Jayson Tatum led the Boston Celtics to their fifth straight win with his 32-point performance. He is averaging 30.2 points and 9.6 rebounds so far this season. Boston Celtics reporter Marc D?Amico posted the shot chart of Tatum?s 32-point performance against the Brooklyn Nets. He revealed that all the points Tatum scored were at the rim, beyond the three-point line, and from the free-throw line. That might have exposed a weakness in Tatum?s game, as he did not have a single mid-range shot in his incredible performance.
All 32 of Jayson Tatum’s points tonight were scored at the rim, from beyond the 3-point arc, or from the free-throw line. pic.twitter.com/LM123ZXsFh
? Marc D’Amico (@Marc_DAmico) November 5, 2023
Even though Jayson Tatum is one of the best scorers in the league, he has struggled from mid-range this season. Tatum has made 7 mid-range shots in 15 attempts so far, giving him an average of 46.7 percent. It is clear from his shot chart and low number of attempts that he does not prefer to pull up from mid-range.
Is Jayson Tatum?s mid-range shooting his weakness?
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Very few players in the league have elite mid-range shooting. While players like DeMar DeRozan, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and Chris Paul thrive in the mid-range, Jayson Tatum prefers to stay away from that shot. Even last season, Tatum attempted only 152 mid-range shots and converted 57 of his attempts, shooting 37.5 percent from that range. In comparison, Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan attempted 670 shots and made 317 of those in 47.3 percent shooting. So, mid-range shooting could be Jayson Tatum?s big weakness that his opponents can exploit going forward.
READ MORE: ?Cut Me Some Slack?: Jayson Tatum Under Fire for Carelessness
However, Tatum?s lack of mid-range shooting does not affect his scoring. Tatum became the youngest Celtics player in history to score 10,000 career points tonight, at just 25 years of age. The Celtics superstar loves to get his points in the restricted area. He made 317 of his 455 attempts from the restricted area last season at an insane efficiency of 69.7 percent. Tatum has continued the same form this season, scoring 25 of his 32 attempts at an unbelievable 78.1 percent shooting.
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Jayson Tatum barely has any flaws in his game, and he could win the MVP trophy this year if he continues to play like he did tonight. If Tatum improves his mid-range shooting, he might even become the best scorer in the NBA.
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