Jayson Tatum’s Performance in the Face of Jason Kidd’s Words Makes Big Statement for Celtics, Says Evan Turner – “Last Dance Situation Popping”

With Luka Doncic‘s injury concern, Jason Kidd has his plate full ahead of the game 3 finals at home. His comments after game 1 praising the Boston Celtics star Brown over Jayson Tatum caused a stir on the Internet. However, the Dallas Mavericks Coach denied all allegations and said Brown was the best player of the game. Regardless of the result, former NBA player Evan Turner feels that the Boston unit is looking at the bigger picture.

On a podcast which is hosted by former NBA teammates Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner, they discussed the Celtics and Mavs matchup. They also highlight how Tatum is still leading the race for Finals MVP honors. Since the time Kidd made those comments, many fans have been thinking if it will lead to disharmony in the team. Yet it did not happen, as per Iguodala.

“The beauty of that is all three of them Drew, Jaylen, and JT, they still went out and executed what they needed to execute to win the game,” said Andre Iguodala, via the Point Forward podcast. He appreciated them for not thinking about individual honors but instead focusing on the team plays. Turner agreed and even called the Celtics the top 2 or 3 most dominant organizations of the past five years. Further, he valued Jayson Tatum for steering the ship in the right direction.

“The Celtics are thinking bigger than just this game,” said Turner.” They’re thinking Legacy bro, they all buying in the Legacy and really comprehending like let’s get our the Last Dance situation popping.” Jayson Tatum has made the right plays through the game even though he is not on the top-scoring list for the finals. The Celtics #0 scored 18 points and 9 rebounds, but most importantly ended up with a season-high 12 assists. Surely after the game, Kidd must have realized that the Celtics play as a team and not focus on individuals.

How can Kidd stop Jayson Tatum and Co.?

Iguodala was so impressed by the high-level display of the Celtics. “I could tell that they were executing at a very high level and that like the basketball purists are respecting the game.” Boston has 5 players on the list of players averaging the most points per game in the 2024 finals with Celtics ECF MVP averaging 21.5 points.

Jrue Holiday is celebrating his 34th birthday today and ranks 3rd on the list with 19 points above Tatum who has 17 so far. Derrick White and Kristaps Porziņģis finish off the Celtics list with 16.5 and 16 points respectively. Irving has managed to only score 14 points thus far. But that’s not the only issue that Irving and Doncic are facing. Both of them have been susceptible while defending.

In Game 2 Luka Doncic was blown by on 13 drives, the most allowed by a player in the last 10 postseasons. While Irving has given away 27 points being the primary defender which is just 1 less than his scoring points. So, Jason Kidd would have to figure out a way to stop not only one man in Jayson Tatum but the others of the Celtics as well.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, had to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.