Tatum, Celtics roll past Lakers, 130-108

Brad Stevens told Ime Udoka to buckle up — that the ride between two NBA teams generally doesn’t break the sound barrier like the one between the Celtics and Lakers. Bill Russell was introduced from courtside during a timeout, and Paul Pierce stood to lead cheers during the next break from his baseline seat.

Toss in the first serious smattering of courtside Patriots, and the early season stage is rarely this adorned. And then there was the return of LeBron James from an abdominal strain, and the need to guard Anthony Davis without the injured Rob Williams.

It all played on Jayson Tatum’s mind. He grew up a Lakers fan, and wore the jersey for a photo shoot in honor of his idol, Kobe Bryant, this summer, much to some local chagrin. He’s developed a friendship with Pierce, took things from the Celtics legend’s game.

Measure that against his slow start to the season, and of course he was set to launch in the Celtics’ 130-108 win over the Lakers. Tatum set the tone with 38 points and 11 rebounds in one of his most aggressive performances of the season, attacking one of the biggest teams in the league at the rim. Marcus Smart (22 points) and Dennis Schroder (21) both honed in, and the paint collapsed.

“It’s a surreal moment. Obviously, Bill Russell, I know the impact that he had on the Celtics and the NBA,” said Tatum. “I didn’t get to see him play, but having somebody like Paul come to the game, it’s someone I have a relationship with, I mean, I remember watching him play and now he’s watching me play. That’s crazy to me.

“Kobe was my favorite player but I watched a lot of guys play,” he said. “Somebody like Paul that could get his shot off against anybody, and he was never rushed. Amazing footwork, always got to his spot, never rushed, great touch. Somebody I always watched and stole moves from and watched how they played the game, especially on the offensive end. He could do everything. He wasn’t the most athletic guy but he always figured it out.”

There’s a lesson for that with Tatum now, as he attempts to accelerate after a slow, nothing-but-iron start to the season. Smart started the Celtics’ attack on the rim, but Tatum picked up on the trend with an 11-point fourth that, save for one jumper, was entirely generated in the paint.

“Just gotta continue to be aggressive. My mindset was I didn’t want us to go into our old habits of just settling, trying to get it back in one possession,” said Smart. “Just trying to attack the rim, find the right plays for myself and for other guys. That’s what we’ve been missing a lot over the years is when we get down like that against a good team, we tend to relax and kind of go the easy route of trying to shoot our way out of it.

“We can be as dangerous as we want it to be,” he said. “Dennis has been a great addition to this team on that aspect of the floor. He’s been able to create for others and allow me to create for others as well. When we’re rolling like that, it gives the extra energy to everybody else to kind of get into their own game and get into a rhythm. I think we saw that tonight, especially with Jayson. I’m very proud of that.”

Udoka was thinking of his finest scorer when he said, “We stressed making quick decisions. We liked some of the matchups he had, could use his size, but he did it from everywhere tonight. I liked his physicality. When he had a matchup he didn’t settle. The more we can get downhill the better for those attack guys like Jayson and Dennis.”

The result was closer to the team the Celtics coach believes he has.

“We looked at our numbers over the last eight games before tonight. We were 5-3 before tonight, but lost a 19-point lead and didn’t play full games against Dallas and the Atlanta game,” he said. “So we felt we could be in better shape record-wise, but we liked the way we were trending. Second in the league defensively over those eight games. Offensively, we’re 23rd overall, but it was due to a lot of poor shooting. Being in those games with the way we were bot scoring offensively, we knew we could rely on the defense. We knew where we had been, number one in transition, number one in guarding the 3-pointer over those games and we wanted to carry that into tonight. And after the first quarter, I felt like we did that.“

Al Horford, solo in the paint, produced one of his patented stats-optional performances, influencing everything from ball movement to leading the effort against Davis. Though the Lakers center finished with 31 points, Horford made him work.

The game also marked the finest performance of the starting backcourt collaboration between Smart (22/8/6) and Schroder (21/6/6). The shots also started to fall, as evidenced by the C’s 50% shooting performance, including 36.7% (11-for-30) from downtown.

Tatum’s corner 3-pointer — his fourth of the night — came courtesy of Smart’s drive and kick down the opposite baseline, and gave the Celtics a 116-99 lead with 5:02 left and essentially put the night to bed. He had scored 11 points over the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, including a three-point play for a 109-94 lead, leading the Celtics into a strong closing kick.

Save for his 41-point performance earlier this season in Charlotte, it was Tatum’s most aggressive performance of the season.

“It’s different every night, the way teams guard you,” said Udoka. “They brought their bigs up to take care of Jayson. They were more aggressive and he made the right play and got others involved. But when he had a matchup he didn’t settle. He put his head down, like I said, and got to the basket.

“It’s something we encourage. We want him to get to the free throw line a good amount of times. Seven tonight, and 38 overall for the team, but the jump shots are a result of team basketball also,” he said. “We’ve taken a lot of good, good, wide open shots. 32 of our 36 on average are wide open 3-pointers. So I mentioned the results aren’t always there but we’ve got to stay with it and keep guys aggressive and I think those areas will improve, but the more we can get downhill and impact the game with our physicality that’s better for Jayson and Dennis and those attack guys, especially when Jaylen comes back.”