Tatum not concerned about C’s possibly failing to earn No. 1 seed originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Jayson Tatum isn’t sweating the Boston Celtics’ blowout loss to the lowly Washington Wizards on Tuesday night.
After the 130-111 defeat, which put the Celtics 2.5 games behind the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks with six games remaining, Tatum equated it to any other loss in the regular season.
Celtics-Wizards takeaways: C’s defense doesn’t make the trip to D.C.
“You never want to have these moments,” the C’s star said. “But somehow, some way, they tend to happen throughout the course of the 82 games. They count as one whether it’s right now or whether it was in December. It’s still a loss. Obviously, you’ve just got to move on from it.”
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla had a similar outlook, chalking up the loss as “just one of those nights.” But is there any concern that failing to earn the No. 1 seed will come back to haunt them in the postseason?
“Uh, no not really,” Tatum answered. “In the playoffs, you’re gonna have to win games on the road at some point. Last year, we beat the Bucks in Game 6. Last year, we beat Miami in Game 7 on the road. So at some point, you’re going to have to go on the road and get a win.”
Tatum was one of the few bright spots in Tuesday’s defeat. The four-time All-Star finished with a team-high 28 points on 11-of-19 shooting. But as a team, the Celtics failed to find their groove offensively and were even worse defensively as 130 marked their most points allowed in regulation since Jan. 3.
It was clear their energy was off from the opening tip. Tatum pledges that won’t be the case in a crucial meeting with the Bucks on Thursday.
“We’ll play better. We’ll come out with more pop. We’ll come out with more energy, more focus,” Tatum said. All I care about is how we respond, and I’m sure that we will.”
Thursday night’s Celtics-Bucks matchup is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET tip-off at Fiserv Forum.
You can watch Tatum’s postgame press conference in its entirety below:
