Tatum Needs To Be Tatum For Celtics To Win Game 4

BOSTON (CBS) -- The Celtics face a must-win Game 4 in Milwaukee on Monday night. If Boston wants any shot to win the game -- and the series -- then Jayson Tatum obviously needs to be much, much better than he was in Saturday's Game 3 loss.

The Bucks were able to shut down Tatum for just 10 points off 4-for-19 shooting on Saturday, Tatum's worst game in a long, long time. He was 0-for-6 from downtown and after averaging seven assists over the first two games of the series, had just three helpers in the loss.

Tatum was completely taken out of the game, while Giannis Antetokounmpo went off for the Bucks with a game-high 40 points. But despite Boston getting a relative no-show from its best player, the Celtics still had a shot in the end, coming up just short of forcing overtime at the buzzer in the 103-101 defeat. After the loss, Tatum promised to be much better on Monday night.

Celtics radio analyst Cedric Maxwell made his triumphant return to WBZ-TV's Sports Final on Sunday night, and told Steve Burton that even if Tatum doesn't keep up with Giannis scoring-wise, the Celtics star needs to make his impact felt elsewhere. On Saturday, Tatum was nowhere to be found anywhere on the stat sheet.

"He has showed you that he can be one of the best players in the game. The thing I didn't like about Jayson Tatum's game is he didn't put his footprint or any kind of print on his game at all," Max said of Tatum's Game 3 performance. "You don't have to score; the great ones always put a print on it with rebounding the ball or assists. He had three assists and [one] rebound. If you don't score the basketball, you have to do something else."

Max said a big part of Boston's overall offensive struggles was that the ball movement that was so great in Game 2 -- and has been so good all postseason -- dried up on Saturday.

"They need to move the basketball almost like a hot potato where it moves around and you don't touch it. Tatum got into a thing the other day where I think he was so frustrated that he kept the ball in his hands. The easiest way to defend a guy is when he has the ball in his hands," said Max. "When the ball movement is sharp and the ball is moving around you get easier opportunities. He didn't get the easier opportunities and it was such a waste because Al Horford was so good. Old Man Al was so good and kept the Celtics in it."

Horford was stellar again for the Celtics in Game 3, putting in 22 points to go with 16 rebounds. The 35-year-old is averaging 15-12 for the series, and has knocked down an incredible 65 percent of his shots from three-point range, in addition to some elite defense on Antetokounmpo.

But it won't mean anything if Tatum is off his game again on Monday night. In addition to Tatum, Max would like to see two other Celtics players step up in Game 4.

"One is Rob Williams. He has to step up and knock down a few more shots, block a few more shots, get a few more rebounds," said Max. "And I'd love to see Grant Williams do a little more, especially on the offensive end. He's been really good and if he steps up and plays the way he did in Game 2, the Celtics will have a great opportunity to win."

Robert Williams hasn't impacted the series as much as the Celtics would have hoped, and had just 10 points and five rebounds on Saturday. Grant Williams continues to play some strong defense on Giannis, but his three-point shooting was off in Game 4, with the forward going just 1-f0r-6 from downtown. His three-point shooting has been huge for Boston this postseason, with Grant draining shooting 49 percent from deep in the playoffs.

Maxwell says the Celtics can still win the series, especially with a potential Game 7 in Boston. But that goes out the window if they lose on Monday night.

"The Celtics can still win this thing and I think they will still win this thing. If the Celtics don't win [Game 4] -- Cancun," he told Burton. "They have to win that basketball game."

Max also shares his thoughts on the controversial foul called at the end of Game 3 that led to only two free throws for Marcus Smart. Check it out in the video above and tune in to Sports Final every Sunday night at 11:35 p.m. on WBZ-TV!