National Basketball Association

Did Jayson Tatum's poor fourth quarter in Game 1 hurt his 'superstar' case?

Updated May. 18, 2023 4:00 p.m. ET

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After setting the NBA record for points in a Game 7 with 51 as the Boston Celtics cruised past the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, Jayson Tatum fell short in the pivotal moments in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat.

Tatum failed to register a shot in the fourth quarter and committed three turnovers over a span of four possessions en route to a 123-116 loss for the Celtics on Wednesday.

Tatum scored 30 points on an efficient 9-of-17 shooting from the field while grabbing seven rebounds and a block, but his offensive struggles in the fourth quarterback overshadowed his early success, especially with Boston surrendering a 13-point lead.

FOX Sports' Skip Bayless was among those befuddled by Tatum's latest playoff performance, leading him to question if Tatum is actually a superstar.

"You have elevated him to the highest pedestal," Bayless said to "Undisputed" cohost Shannon Sharpe on Thursday. "He made first-team All-NBA. You have proclaimed him a superstar. I keep saying, ‘I’m trying, but I can't get there,' because, especially through the playoffs, it is a wild roller coaster ride of great game, sorry game, great game, ‘Huh?’ [game], great game and a ‘Where did you go? What happened to you?’ [game]."

Jimmy Butler leads Heat to 123-116 Game 1 win vs. Celtics

Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat upset the Celtics in Boston in Game 1, 123-116. Shannon Sharpe breaks down why the Celtics lost Game 1.

As Bayless mentioned, Tatum has had some up-and-down performances throughout his playoff career. Just in the Eastern Conference semifinal against the 76ers, Tatum had several head-scratching performances. In the first half of Game 4, Tatum scored three points on 1-of-9 shooting before finishing with 24 points, 18 rebounds, six assists and four blocks in an eventual Celtics loss.

Tatum got off to a slow start in Game 5, too. He missed his first six shots of that game before scoring 36 points on 11-of-27 shooting in another Celtics loss. Game 6 was Tatum's worst start yet, shooting 1-of-14 from the field through the first three-plus quarters before hitting four 3-pointers in the final minutes to keep the Celtics' season alive and force a Game 7. 

Bayless isn't sure if the blame should necessarily fall on Tatum for not getting a shot off in the fourth quarter of Game 1, believing some blame might fall on Celtics point guard Marcus Smart and coach Joe Mazzulla. But the one thing he does know is that "the best player on what many consider to be the best team" failed to show up in the fourth quarter as a "prohibitive favorite" against the eighth-seeded Heat. 

"I don't get it," Bayless said of Tatum's up-and-down play. "He's almost like a Kevin Durant-like figure where we see all the talent, we see all the explosiveness. We saw it in Game 7 against Philly. We saw it at the very end of Game 6 at Philly. We see him explode. He's so long at 6-foot-8 that when he extends to the basket, it's almost like his arms can extend another extra foot, like they're elongated arms. I've never seen anything quite like it. 

"But he can go as cold as anybody in the league. What happened in the playoffs last year? He led the whole playoffs with 100 turnovers. It seemed like he cleaned up some of his act this year in these playoffs until the home stretch of last night's game. Not only is he not taking a shot in the fourth quarter, but with under three minutes left, he had three turnovers, too."

Tatum will look to get back on track when the Celtics take on the Heat in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Friday night in Boston.

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Skip and Shannon: Undisputed