The Day For Jayson Tatum's Revenge Has Finally Arrived

The moment that we've all been waiting for has finally arrived. Sure it may only be early November, but tonight's showdown between the Warriors and defending Champion Celtics is about as big as it could possibly get on November 6th. For starters, both teams are off to great starts. The Celts (7-1) and Warriors (6-1) are the only teams in the entire NBA who own top 4 offenses and top 4 defenses at the moment, they own two of the highest point differentials in the league (BOS +14.0, GS +17.3), and they're both playing well with the Celts winning 3 straight and the Warriors winning 4 straight. 

If you keep things only to what each team has done on the court to begin this season, that has everything you need for a great matchup. But as we know, this is about way more than just a hot start to a season. We all watched the Olympics, we all saw the bullshit Steve Kerr pulled, and ever since that moment pretty much everyone has had this game circled on the calendar, and for good reason.

There are certainly a few ways to look at tonight, and over the last few weeks I've personally gone back and forth. Back in August, I was ready for Jayson Tatum to go completely scorched earth on Kerr in their first matchup, I believe I tweeted at the time he was probably going to go for 60 while operating on pure hatred. He's obviously the biggest storyline entering tonight and I think most Celts fans want to see him bury both Kerry and the Warriors as a solid "Fuck You" for what happened in Paris.

But you know what? The more I've thought about it, as awesome as that might be if it happens tonight, I think there's a bigger "Fuck You" opportunity on the table should the Celts be able to capitalize on it. 

Right now, the Warriors believe they're back. Granted, they've beaten POR, UTA, NO (2x), HOU, and WSH, but whatever. They are riding about as high as you can right now. It wouldn't shock me if they truly believe all the drama of the Olympics/the 2022 Finals is somehow going to get Tatum and the Celts to fall into their mental trap and lose focus. It's no different than when we saw them try and bait Jaylen Brown into bad decisions in their last meeting (lost by 50). 

So while part of me would love to see Tatum go scorched earth, I also think it might be more demoralizing for them to change absolutely nothing about their approach to start the season. There's no need to spam Tatum's offense or force things that aren't there just to prove a point. Instead, show the mental toughness that even that bozo Steve Kerr can't knock you off your game and go out and dominate. As a team. The Celts have the formula to be virtually unstoppable, and when they don't deviate from that plan, they pretty much never lose. 

It's sort of like how Tatum immediately gets up and doesn't even address someone when they try something shady

He doesn't take the bait. To me, this is a sign of mental toughness. The same thing can apply to tonight's game. Tatum doesn't have to change a thing about his approach or how he plays tonight. He's having the best season of his career, the Celts look great, and at the end of the day playing the right way and staying true to what makes this team successful is WAY more important than a potential Tatum 50 ball.

For example, if Tatum has his standard 30/8/6 and the Celts win while playing the right way, that serves the same purpose as Tatum going for 50. This isn't to say I won't be going crazy if he plays the right way and still drops 50, but the bigger point is tonight is more about not taking the bait and continuing to play Celtics basketball. 

While you can understand why fans (myself included) might be out for blood tonight, what cannot happen is for Tatum to get blood drunk and deviate from the style of play that has made him an early MVP candidate. It doesn't have to be one guy against the world, and it's important that both the Celts and Tatum don't fall into that trap.

There's also the fact that this is not the first time the Celts have been rolling and heading into a date with GS, only to watch Steph Curry bury them. You'll remember last year they were riding a 5 game-winning streak before losing 132-126 in OT with Curry going for 33. I do think their 2024 title got rid of a lot of the 2022 Finals demons, but we shouldn't pretend like there haven't been times where GS has clearly gotten under their skin and made the Celts get away from what we know works.

So while tonight is somewhat about potential revenge, to me it's more about being the latest test for the Champs as they go through their journey back up the mountain. Down Jaylen Brown and Porzingis, the Celts are going to have to play their best basketball of the season. No wasting possessions, no lazy defense or passing, no Tatum hero ball.

If Tatum wants to shove it to Kerr, beat his team and then give some sort of "math" quote in the postgame interview if you want. But the second he and the Celts move away from what works just to try and prove a point, they've already lost.