NBA
‘I was nervous’: Jayson Tatum reflected on lessons learned following Celtics’ Game 1 win in NBA Finals
The Celtics are three wins away from an NBA title, winning Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday as they seek to do something they fell two wins short of doing two years ago.
Jayson Tatum kept things in perspective following the Celtics’ 107-89 win on Thursday, making an admission about their postseason failure in 2023 in the process.
“It felt great,” Tatum told reporters about playing in a Finals game for the second time in three years. “To be honest, I was nervous. I ain’t gonna lie, I was nervous in like, an anxious way, like I was a little kid. It’s surreal being in the Finals.
“When you’re young in your career, you think you’re always going to go back. Last year was kind of a wake-up call when we didn’t make it. So, getting back to this point and being here is really a big deal.”
After losing to the Warriors in the NBA Finals as a 24-year-old in 2022, Tatum was expected to lead the Celtics back to the Finals last season. Boston was arguably the favorite to win it all for much of the year, especially after the Milwaukee Bucks were upset in the first round by the eighth-seeded Miami Heat.
But the Celtics also fell victim to the Heat. They lost to them in the Eastern Conference finals in seven games, falling in a 3-0 deficit before tying the series but losing in Game 7.
Tatum suggested that last season’s loss might have been the kick he and the Celtics needed to make sure they take care of business when they’re supposed to.
“Maybe last year, us losing in the conference finals,” Tatum said when asked what was the moment that changed his perspective to take things in a little more. “Maybe I just expected that after we lost in 2022, that it was guaranteed we were just going to keep coming back and this is like, our time. Last year was just kind of like, a wake-up call to not take anything for granted because you never know how many opportunities you might have.”
So far, the Celtics have mostly taken care of business this postseason. They’ve won all four Game 1s after losing four over the last two postseasons. While their only two losses were in Game 2s at home, the Celtics are 3-0 in closeout games this postseason.
Boston played like a team with urgency on Thursday. It got out to a 37-20 lead at the end of the first quarter and went on a 14-0 run when Dallas cut the lead to eight in the third quarter. Tatum finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists.
But the Celtics also won Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals before losing to the Warriors in six games. Following prior wake-up calls, Tatum knows that the series is far from over.
“We played well tonight, there’s a lot of things we feel like we could do better,” Tatum said. “But it definitely does feel good to win the first game. We know two years ago that we won the first game and the outcome of that series, so we still have a lot of work to do.”
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