Celtics-Warriors is much more than Jayson Tatum vs. Steve Kerr
BOSTON -- Jayson Tatum will get his first crack at some revenge against Steve Kerr on Wednesday night when the Boston Celtics host the Golden State Warriors. It will be their first matchup since Kerr benched Tatum during the Paris Olympics over the summer.
Tatum has shrugged off any animosity toward the Warriors/Team USA head coach, but that hasn't done much to lessen the anticipation for this one. And while Tatum is keeping his usual even-keeled approach for Wednesday night's game, that won't keep the fans inside TD Garden from serenading Kerr with boos and taunts every chance they get.
While that storyline is certainly at the forefront of Wednesday night's showdown, let's not forget that we should be treated to a pretty great basketball game against two incredible teams. The Celtics are 7-1 and look determined to repeat as NBA champs. The Warriors aren't bad either, sitting at 6-1 and winners of four straight. Three of those wins came without Steph Curry, but he returned Monday and dropped 24 points in a win over the Washington Wizards.
The Celtics and the Warriors tend to bring out the best in each other, excluding that 52-point victory by the Celtics last year in Boston. They've split their regular-season meetings in each of the last three seasons, and two of the last four matchups have gone to overtime.
Mix in their NBA Finals matchup two postseasons ago, and the Celtics and the Warriors have a nice little thing going. The Tatum-Kerr controversy will give an already charged-up matchup a little more juice on Wednesday night.
Tatum-Kerr in the Olympics
Team USA won Olympic Gold in Paris over the summer, and Tatum earned the second gold medal of his career. But the run didn't come without some controversy, as Kerr made Tatum a spectator for parts of that run.
Tatum was fresh off leading the Celtics to a NBA championship, but Kerr outright benched him for two games against Serbia. Kerr said matchups played a factor, and added that he struggled to expand his 10-man rotation following Team USA's first win over Serbia.
"Like I've said many times during this tournament and this last six weeks, it's just hard to play 11 people, even in an NBA game," said Kerr.
(Interestingly enough, Kerr played 13 players in Monday night's win over the Wizards. Olympic games are eight minutes shorter than NBA contests, but just wanted to point out the rotation that Kerr used heading into this matchup.)
Then Tatum was benched for Team USA's second matchup against Serbia, which just made the situation all the more confusing. Tatum didn't say much about the controversy while in Paris, but did chat about it on Celtics media day when he was asked if it would give him some more motivation heading into the new season.
"I'm not going to give anybody in particular credit that that motivated me to come into the season," said Tatum. "It was a unique circumstance, something I (hadn't) experienced before in my playing career, but I'm a believer that everything happens for a reason. I was coming off a championship, the highest of the highs, the cover of 2K and a new contract, and then that happened.
"And whatever the reason is, I haven't figured out yet, but I am a believer that everything does happen for a reason," Tatum added. "But it was a good experience. We won a gold medal, I won my second one. I was around some of the best players ever to play the game on a daily basis, built some friendships and was able to bring my family out there and enjoy the Olympics as a whole. So that was a plus for me for sure."
Tatum brushes off question about facing Kerr
Following his 28-point, 9-assist effort in a blowout win over the Atlanta Hawks on Monday, Tatum was asked about his much-anticipated matchup with Kerr and the Warriors. He didn't reference the Olympics in his response.
"I mean, yeah. We're playing against Steph Curry and somebody that I'm close with and obviously, I'm close with Draymond Green," Tatum said. "So, I know it's a Finals matchup from a few years ago so from that standpoint, yeah, getting to play against those guys; we've had a lot of battles over the last couple of years so I'm sure it'll be fun."
Right now, Tatum is letting his play do the talking. His shot looks better and he's playing at an MVP level, averaging 30.0 points per game, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.1 assists. Over the first eight games of the season, Tatum has hit 48.8 percent of his shots from the floor and 35.5 percent from downtown.
Jaylen Brown out for Celtics vs. Warriors
Tatum will not have his running mate in Jaylen Brown, who will miss his third straight game Wednesday night with a hip flexor injury. Brown has his own beef with Team USA, as he was skipped over as a replacement for Kawhi Leonard. Instead of Brown, Team USA went with his Boston teammate, Derrick White.
Brown's issues mostly sit with Nike, but he probably would have had some added motivation for Wednesday night's tilt. But he'll have to wait until Jan. 20 when the Celtics visit the Chase Center for a crack at Kerr.
While Brown's absence will take a star out of the equation for Boston, the loaded Celtics can still rely on Tatum, White, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, and Payton Pritchard to carry the load against the Warriors on Wednesday night.
