NBA Eastern Conference

Jayson Tatum was seventh in the NBA in scoring this season. He finished sixth in MVP voting. When he was on the floor, the Boston Celtics had a point differential around that of a 67-win team.

If an uninitiated observer watched him Saturday, all of the above would be surprising to learn.

Tatum went 3-of-14 in Boston's 109-103 loss to the Miami Heat in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, and he totaled 10 points, six turnovers and four assists in 41 minutes. Yet that doesn't begin to tell the story.

did not have max strus outplaying jayson tatum in a playoff game on my bingo card

— Rohan Nadkarni (@RohanNadkarni) May 22, 2022

Tatum's foil on the Heat, Jimmy Butler, missed the entire second half with knee inflammation. The game and momentum in the series could've been seized, but a lack of focus and intensity from Tatum and the Celtics prevented them from matching Miami's effort.

"All they talked about was upping their physicality and being embarrassed at home, and we didn't match that from the start," Boston coach Ime Udoka said after the game. "We got into complaining and let it take us out of our game. It's disappointing to come out that flat in a conference finals game."

It's generous to describe Tatum's first two shots of the game as shots. They were more like flings. When he couldn't get by his initial defender, he just sort of flipped the ball toward the rim and missed. Thanks to the shot clock winding down, he deserves a little leeway on the first one, but those early unanswered prayers set the tone.

It was going to be a tough night for getting to the rim, and that spelled trouble for Boston.

This season, Tatum shot 38.4 percent on shots in the 3-15 foot range, good for 183rd among the 215 players with at least 100 attempts (and last among the 23 with at least as many attempts as Tatum). He was 0-of-5 on those attempts Saturday.

He was settling. And whether it's that or bouts of streakiness with his jumper, Tatum is still prone to letdowns that can upend the Celtics.

Saturday marked the fifth time this postseason that Tatum took at least 10 shots and finished with a 45-or-under effective field-goal percentage (league average in 2021-22 was 53.2). Boston is now 1-4 in those games. Dillon Brooks, Jalen Brunson and Jrue Holiday are the only players with more such performances in the 2022 playoffs.

Tatum is barely 24 years old. He figures to be a perennial All-NBA selection and occasional MVP candidate for the foreseeable future. Everyone has bad games, but Tatum's rough outings need to be spread out a bit more—especially on the game's biggest stage—for him to crack the NBA's top tier.

And he seems to know that.

"Unacceptable," Tatum said of his Game 3 performance. "I gotta play better. I left the guys hanging tonight."

Losing at home isn't ideal, but Boston already stealing one on the road keeps this from feeling catastrophic. The Celtics have lost five games in the postseason. They followed up each of the previous four with wins, and their average margin of victory in those games was 17.3.

If they bounce back in similar fashion in Game 4, the memory of Saturday's dud will quickly fade. And the off shooting nights notwithstanding, Tatum has still developed into one of the game's more trustworthy stars (even if he isn't in that aforementioned top tier).

Just like his team has rebounded from losses in the playoffs, Tatum is averaging 36.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 4.8 threes and 2.3 steals while shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 39.6 percent from three in his individual postseason bounce-backs (games immediately following those with the sub-45 effective field-goal percentage).

"I have the utmost confidence in my guys," veteran Al Horford said after Saturday's loss. "Time and time again, [Jaylen Brown] figures it out, Jayson figures it out. Those guys are battle-tested."

The big man is right. Brown and Tatum are eighth and 10th, respectively, in conference finals minutes played before turning 26 (Tatum is third when you drop the age qualifier to 25). Since January 1 (including the postseason), Boston is an NBA-best plus-11.1 points per 100 possessions (thanks to a 117.9 offensive rating and a 106.8 mark on the other end).

They're banged up, but the Celtics still seem to have the highest ceiling of any team standing (save perhaps the Golden State Warriors).

If Marcus Smart (nursing an ankle injury) and Robert Williams III (missed Saturday's contest with a knee injury, but he could be back as early as Game 4) can give Boston 85 percent of their best, the team can be a nightmare.

When you combine decent health up and down the roster with Tatum playing at or near his best, the Celtics look unbeatable. In the regular and postseason, the starting five is a staggeringly good plus-21.6 points per 100 possessions.

Through three games of the Eastern Conference Finals, Miami has made the Celtics look human. But there's more than enough evidence to suggest Tatum and his teammates can make all the talk about his top-five status feel warranted.

The Boston Celtics are a different team when Marcus Smart is on the floor.

If there was any doubt about that, the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals should probably put it to rest. After missing a Game 1 loss against the Miami Heat with a foot sprain, Smart returned to the lineup on Thursday with 24 points, 12 assists, nine rebounds, five threes, three steals and a block. He was plus-31 in 40 minutes.

No other Celtics starter was better than plus-16 in a 127-102 rout that wasn't even that close.

The differences between Tuesday and Thursday's games were clear, and it was easy to trace several of them back to Smart.

For one, Boston was simply outworked in a 39-14 third quarter of Game 1. When it became clear Miami was bringing an effort level the Celtics couldn't (or wouldn't) match, the wheels fell off. Settling for jumpers, turnovers (Jayson Tatum had six in that frame alone), you name it. Boston lost the battles for physical and mental toughness.

"They just came out and kind of punked us in that third quarter," head coach Ime Udoka said.

Thursday, it was obvious in the second quarter that that wouldn't happen again.

"We just wanted to come in and be the harder playing team tonight," Smart told reporters after the game. "We said we were going to get the loose balls, cut the turnovers and let our defense do what we do."

All those boxes were completely filled. And Smart was often the one holding the metaphorical pencil. As he has been all season, Smart set a tone in Game 2, particularly with his on-ball defense and tenacity on switches.

The Celtics defense switched on 13 pick-and-rolls in the first half and the Heat scored just 2 points, per @SecondSpectrum.

Massive difference with Al Horford and Marcus Smart out there.

— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) May 20, 2022

For most teams, switching 1 through 5 would be asking for a disaster. For the Celtics, when healthy, it's what sets them apart from everyone.

Smart, Tatum and Jaylen Brown can hold up against just about anyone but the league's burliest 5s. Al Horford (who also returned after missing Game 1) and Robert Williams III are some of the game's best bigs at scrambling on the perimeter against guards and wings.

After Game 2, Udoka said, "We wanted to keep bodies in front of bodies," and that's exactly what they did. That's what they've done better than anyone since Jan. 1. Over that stretch, Boston's first-place defense (by points allowed per 100 possessions) had around the same distance between it and second as the distance between second and 11th.

While all five of the starters were an integral part of that success, these two games against Miami show that the Defensive Player of the Year may be the real key.

Game 1 vs. Game 2 really shows the impact of DPOY Marcus Smart. You CANT look at the box score to understand his impact #intangibles

— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) May 20, 2022

Tatum, Brown and Derrick White are stellar perimeter defenders (what a luxury it must be to have that many who can be described that way before you get to the DPOY), but Smart plays with that edge and relentlessness against stars that made careers for players like Tony Allen and Bruce Bowen.

Jimmy Butler had 41 points on 19 field-goal attempts in Game 1. Thursday, his total for free-throw attempts was cut by more than half and his points leveled off at 29. He was still good, but that's a manageable line. And though it took a team effort to get him there, Smart's one-on-one opportunities made Butler work as much as anyone's.

"I love going up against Jimmy any time I can," Smart said. "As a defensive player, as a competitor, he’s going to make you work, he’s going to make you better."

Smart has been taking matchups like this personally all season long, and the results loudly speak for themselves.

When Smart was on the floor in the regular season, the Celtics allowed 106.1 points per 100 possessions (a mark that ranked in the 92nd percentile) and outscored opponents by 9.7 points per 100 possessions. That point differential is around that of a 63-win team (it was around that of a 50-win team when he was off the floor).

In other words, the Celtics are really good without Smart. They play like a juggernaut with him.

And it's not entirely because of his defense.

No one's accused Smart of being a great shooter, but volume (he took 5.1 attempts per game this season) can often have the desired effect of accuracy. Just knowing he'll take the shot and make just enough forces defenses to pay attention to him outside. And in the games when he's on, as he was Thursday, Boston becomes exponentially more difficult to slow down.

Smart hit a game-high five threes (to go along with his game-high four deflections and three steals).

More importantly, his ball-handling and passing hide one of the very few flaws Tatum has. For all Boston's superstar can do, there are moments when his handle seems a little shaky. And reserving some of that responsibility for Smart frees up Tatum to do more attacking off catches.

Thursday, Smart's 12 assists had the internet buzzing.

Marcus Smart makes a huge difference for them ! He Hoopin🔥

— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) May 20, 2022

"It feels great," Smart said of being able to play the 1 (after years of working alongside Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker). "That's who I am. The whole world is seeing what I can do at the point guard position."

And what he does, on both ends of the floor, may make the Celtics more than the Heat can handle.

As Jeff Van Gundy pointed out during ESPN's broadcast of Game 2, Boston is bigger, more athletic or both at almost every spot on the floor.

Just think about each matchup. Smart versus Gabe Vincent, the former has a 20-pound advantage. Brown is an inch taller and quicker laterally than Max Strus. I'm not going to argue Tatum has an edge over Butler in terms of toughness, but he is a bit taller and has a longer wingspan. P.J. Tucker is a bulldog, but he's much smaller than Horford. And finally, Williams can match Bam Adebayo's explosiveness, while Horford sort of provides the "playmaking big" qualities.

Miami is talented. When the Celtics are healthy, they're talented, big and can embrace most of today's philosophies. Switchability, particularly from Smart, Brown and Tatum, allows them to play positionless when necessary. Horford and Williams can bully opponents inside without compromising that.

Of course, this series is tied, 1-1. Another monster performance (or two) from Jimmy could alter our perspectives again. But right now, Boston's starting lineup (and really, first seven or eight guys) seems perfectly engineered for today's game.

From the front office to the coaching staff to the players, plenty of credit should be doled out for that. As it is, don't forget about Smart, the on-court conductor (as if performances like Thursday's would even make that possible).

Thanks to Trae Young's 48-point performance, the Atlanta Hawks won their first conference finals game in franchise history on Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks.

The star didn't bat an eye when he was asked about his outing after the 116-113 victory at Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum:

Hawks’ Trae Young after 48 points in ECF Game 1 win over Bucks: “I’m all for the biggest moments.” pic.twitter.com/ll86OycFkJ

— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) June 24, 2021

The performance was highlighted by a third-quarter three that saw him shimmy before he drained the shot.

Ice Trae can't be stopped ♨️#ECFonTNT pic.twitter.com/W8hUmlu4Jl

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) June 24, 2021

“I got a little second to get a deep breath and knock it down," Young said. 

“I got a little second to get a deep breathe and knock it down.”

Trae Young on hitting his shimmy three vs. the Bucks https://t.co/4AuDtau0I2

— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 24, 2021

Young also posted 11 assists and seven rebounds, with help from John Collins' 23 points and 15 rebounds. 

Young had 25 points in the first half as the Hawks trailed 59-54. It was a second-half resurgence from Collins that provided him with the backup the Hawks needed to get past the Bucks. 

By scoring or assisting on 72 points during the game, Young set an NBA record. That total is the most by any player in any conference or division finals game in league history, per Elias Sports Bureau (h/t ESPN Stats and Info). 

At 22 years, 278 days old, he is also the second-youngest player to drop at least 45 points with at least 10 rebounds in a playoff game. 

For Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo dropped 34 points with 12 rebounds and nine assists, and Jrue Holiday was right behind him with 33 points, 10 assists and four rebounds. 

Game 2 is Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET. 

Five years after finishing with the worst record in the NBA, the Philadelphia 76ers have clinched the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

"Trust the Process... Sam Hinkie knew," center Joel Embiid said Friday, per Rich Hofmann of The Athletic.

According to Hofmann, 76ers president Daryl Morey had told Embiid to reference "the process."

Hinkie was Philadelphia's general manager from 2013 to 2016, overseeing some of the worst years in franchise history. The squad bottomed out in 2015-16 with a 10-72 record.

Fortunately, the struggles led to high draft picks, getting Embiid with the No. 3 overall pick in 2014 and Ben Simmons with the first overall pick in 2016.

Not all high picks turn into All-Stars—the organization also took Jahlil Okafor and Markelle Fultz during this stretch—but the 76ers gave themselves a lot of chances to find stars with this strategy. 

Fans were told to be patient during the losing seasons, and Embiid fully embraced it, using "The Process" as his own nickname.

After the team clinched the top seed in the conference, it's clear Hinkie's plan was an effective one.

Of course, there is still work to do for the 76ers, who have struggled in the playoffs in recent years. The squad was swept out of the first round last postseason and haven't advanced beyond the second round since Allen Iverson carried the 2001 team to the NBA finals.

Embiid, Simmons and the rest of this year's team will try to improve upon this recent history and compete for a championship.

Boston Celtics teammates Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart reportedly got into a heated argument in the locker room following the team's 106-101 loss to the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday night.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, sources said Brown and Smart had to be separated by teammates after Smart stormed into the locker room and said other players needed to be held accountable aside from just himself.

Brown reportedly told Smart he needed to cool off and that the Celtics "must stay together and that their actions must come as a team, not individually."

Objects were reportedly thrown, but the situation was diffused before things got physical, and sources indicated Smart and Brown have since smoothed things over.

One source said, "They will move past this and focus on the task."

Smart's emotion likely stemmed from the fact that Boston blew a 13-point halftime lead and now trails 2-0 in the series. The Celtics also blew a 12-point lead entering the fourth quarter of Game 1, calling into question their ability to finish games.

In Thursday's loss, Smart finished with 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting to go along with four assists, four rebounds and four turnovers. Meanwhile, Brown went 8-of-14 for 21 points with six rebounds, two assists and one turnover.

Brown had a chance to tie the game with just 15 seconds remaining, but he missed a good look from beyond the arc. Miami grabbed the rebound, and Jimmy Butler made two game-clinching free throws.

Smart appeared agitated at times during the game, and a source told Charania he even shouted at his assistant coaches on several occasions.

There is little doubt that the tough and tenacious Smart is one of Boston's vocal and emotional leaders, but that may not have manifested in a positive way in Game 2.

The Celtics have a deep hole to dig out from as they face a 2-0 deficit against a Heat team that is firing on all cylinders. Getting Smart on the same page with his teammates will be of the utmost importance for head coach Brad Stevens prior to Saturday's Game 3.

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown said Thursday the team remains "confident" despite falling behind the Miami Heat 2-0 in the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals.

"We feel confident about our abilities; we feel confident about our game plan," Brown told reporters after a 106-101 loss in Game 2. "We just haven't executed it to the extent that we know we can. Two games, we came up short toward the end of the game, and we're looking forward to Game 3."

His comments came amid rumors of internal conflict after ESPN's Malika Andrews reported C's guard Marcus Smart stormed out of the locker room saying, "Y'all on some bulls--t," while other players in the locker room were also yelling after the team blew a 15-point lead in Game 2.

Boston, which held a 13-point edge at halftime, was outscored 37-17 in the third quarter. It regained the lead midway through the fourth quarter, holding a five-point advantage with 4:25 remaining, but a late 9-0 run by the Heat swung the game back in their favor for good.

Brown explained those type of lapses by the Celtics are the reason the Heat are two games from the NBA Finals:

"We're in the conference finals. That's all we need to hear to be locked in. That's all it takes. Both games we had moments where we had lapses, and that team over there is together for 48 minutes. And we've got to be together for 48 minutes and we gotta be together for 48 minutes to match that. I think we have yet to do that. I think we're capable. I think we need every piece, everybody to be all in, and to continue to bring that energy is what we're going to need."

Miami, which entered the playoffs as the East's No. 5 seed, has only lost a single game in the postseason.

The biggest separator in Game 2 was protecting the basketball. The Heat finished with 27 assists and just nine turnovers, while the third-seeded Celtics had more turnovers (20) than assists (19).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfEZtXg-h0Q

Neither game was a blowout, though. The opener went to overtime and Thursday's clash wasn't decided until the final minutes despite Boston's high number of unforced errors. So the door remains open for a comeback if the C's can clean up their play.

"This series is far from over," Brown told reporters.

Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

A number of Eastern Conference teams were aggressive at the 2019 NBA trade deadline, which may be a result of the "LeBron James effect."

As in, teams are making a run at the NBA Finals now that James' reign over the conference has come to an end with his signing with the Los Angeles Lakers.

"Those top teams in the East, yeah, they're going for it," James told The Athletic's Joe Vardon. "Toronto is going for it, Milwaukee's going for it, Philly. Boston believes they can do it, too. They know they ain't gotta go through Cleveland anymore.

"Everybody in the East thinks they can get to the Finals because they ain't gotta go through me."

James controlled the Eastern Conference from the time he joined the Miami Heat to the end of his second stint with the Cavs, making eight consecutive trips to the NBA Finals. But now that he is out west, the conference is up for grabs.

And teams around the East have been making moves ever since the King relinquished his throne.

The Toronto Raptors—who were eliminated by James and the Cavs in each of the past three seasons—traded the face of their franchise in DeMar DeRozan for the San Antonio Spurs' Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. On Thursday, they once again went bold by acquiring longtime Memphis Grizzlies star Marc Gasol.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers have been active all season. After acquiring four-time All-Star Jimmy Butler in November, the Sixers acquired Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic and Mike Scott prior to the deadline.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported on Thursday that shooting guard Wesley Matthews plans to sign with the Indiana Pacers.

The Boston Celtics may not have made any deadline deals, but they were among the winners of the week because the New Orleans Pelicans did not move disgruntled star Anthony Davis. Boston was unable to make a run at Davis as long as Kyrie Irving remained on the roster, as both stars are currently on designated rookie extensions. The Celtics are, however, able to pursue Davis this summer once Irving's current deal expires.

With the Eastern Conference playoffs shaping up to be the most competitive it has been in years, the Lakers superstar couldn't help but look ahead.

"S--t, I was excited seeing all the moves they made in the East today," James told Vardon on Thursday. "Those matchups in the second round, in the Eastern Conference finals, that s--t is gonna be crazy. It’s gonna be fun to watch."

Of course, if Los Angeles can't find a groove with a healthy James, he may have plenty of time to watch the playoffs. The Lakers (28-27) are currently 1.5 games back of the eighth spot in the West. They are 22-15 with James in the lineup, including 2-1 since he returned from a 17-game absence as he nursed a groin injury.

Not only has James not missed the Finals since 2010, but he has not failed to reach the postseason since 2004-05, his second year in the league.