NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. MAVERICKS

June 14, 2024

Jayson Tatum

Boston Celtics

Game 4: Postgame

Dallas Mavericks 122, Boston Celtics 84

Q. Jayson, you guys were down 0-3 last year, Game 4, you had that big comeback and you had 25 points in the second half. Can you at least see where they are coming from tonight and what their mindset was in coming into this game being down 0-3?

JAYSON TATUM: Absolutely. Like you said, a year ago this time, we were down 0-3 and we were essentially fighting for our lives.

So very short answer, yeah, we understand what it's like from their point of view, and you know, they came out super aggressive. They played extremely fast and took more shots than we did. You know, they were really concentrating on attacking the offensive glass. They got way more rebounds than we did.

So, you know, they played harder tonight. Obviously, we didn't shoot the ball well at all. It's something that we can learn from.

Q. You guys have talked in so many different metaphors about how hard it is to finish something off this year. You get to the first clinching game. How big of a challenge was it, and how hard was it to try to problem-solve in real time and go through all those different things?

JAYSON TATUM: Give them credit. They played well tonight and we didn't. We had the right mindset and right intentions. We wanted to come out and play super well and win, but it just didn't go that way tonight.

But, you know, we are fortunate. We get another opportunity on Monday.

Q. Jaylen came in here and said, next time you're out there, you have to play like your life depends on it because it does. You recently said in an interview that if you got back to this point, you would do whatever it took to win. What's it like after the loss, absorbing it and moving on?

JAYSON TATUM: Yeah, not to harp on it too much. It happened. We can't change what happened tonight.

You know, we always say you lose by two or you lose by 30; they all count the same. But we do need to be better. We're not making any excuses. We need to be better, and we will. We will be better.

Q. Joe talked about the Mavs kind of causing some indecision at the rim. Kind of making you unsure of whether you should shoot or pass. What were they doing, and just what did you make of your team's and your decision-making in general tonight?

JAYSON TATUM: Yeah, I think we were a little -- I think this is the most stagnant that we've been this series and the worst job of owning our space on the offensive end and doing what we wanted to do instead of what they were forcing us to do. And, you know, we did a great job of that the first three games, and this one, we didn't.

Q. You guys have been getting up a ton of corner threes, generating a lot of those drive-and-kick to the corner. Only six of those tonight before garbage time. What were you seeing from them defensively in terms of how they were closing out on those corners and shutting down those opportunities for you?

JAYSON TATUM: I think it starts on the defensive end for us. We didn't get many stops. So they were allowed to set their defense up, and just naturally, when you're scoring at a high rate, you feel good about yourself. Your energy is higher. Tend to probably play better defense.

So it all starts on the defensive end. We've just got to do a much better job containing them, making it tougher, and getting stops.

Q. When dealing with a blowout, is your process more to, like you spoke about before, just got to flush it, move on as quickly as possible, or are you someone that watches the game or watches the tape of it and gets kind of angry or motivated since it was a blowout?

JAYSON TATUM: A little bit of both. You have to, to move on from it, win or a loss. We're obviously going to watch film and see a lot of things that we need to clean up and do better. But you can't worry about it too much because we have another game on Monday.

Like I said, not making any excuses. We've got to be a lot better, and I believe that we will.

Q. On Monday, Game 5, what do you expect the Garden to be like, and what would it mean to you to clinch on your home floor that night?

JAYSON TATUM: I think it's going to be as loud as it's ever been, in my seven years of being a Celtic. Excited to go back home. Celebrate Father's Day on Sunday and compete for a championship on Monday. So it should be a lot of fun.