“The doubt has crept in” – Fans react after Jayson Tatum and Celtics teammate express pessimistic attitude ahead of Game 5 at home

Fans react after Jayson Tatum and Celtics teammate express pessimistic attitude ahead of Game 5 at home

Jayson Tatum’s Boston Celtics can secure this year’s NBA title during Monday’s Game 5 NBA Finals clash against the Dallas Mavericks. However, ahead of the critical home contest, Tatum and one of his teammates expressed a seemingly pessimistic attitude, concerning Celtics fans.

After going up 3-0, Boston suffered its worst finals loss in franchise history during Friday’s Game 4 matchup, falling 122-84 on the road. It was thoroughly outplayed on both ends, shooting only 29-for-80 (36.3%), while Dallas shot a blistering 46-for-91 (50.5%), facing little resistance.

Tatum led the Celtics in scoring despite tallying just 15 points on 4-for-10 (40.0%) shooting. Meanwhile, his co-star Jaylen Brown finished with only 10 points on 3-for-12 (25.0%) shooting. Conversely, Mavericks superstar guard Luka Doncic and his co-star Kyrie Irving combined for 50 points, doubling Tatum and Brown’s offensive production.

Despite its all-around letdown, Boston still holds a commanding 3-1 series lead, with home-court advantage in Game 5, making it a heavy favorite.

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Nevertheless, on Sunday, Celtics reserve sharpshooter Sam Hauser referenced his team having more close-out opportunities to fall back on if necessary.

“It would be awesome to get it done, it would be great. If we do lose, it’s not like it’s the end of the world, we’d still be up 3-2,” Hauser said. “But, obviously, doing it at home would be pretty special.”

Jayson Tatum echoed a similar sentiment, citing Boston locking up the championship on Monday as being more of a preference than a necessity.

“We would love to win tomorrow, more than anything. But if it doesn’t happen, it’s not the end of the world,” Tatum said. “We have more opportunities.”

Hauser and Tatum’s comments sparked worry and frustration among Celtics fans on X/Twitter. Many critiqued Boston’s apparent lackadaisical mindset with a title on the line.

“I hate this mentality from them all of a sudden. Get it done,” @LurkinTomGaming said.

“They gotta start treating these elimination games as if there’s no tomorrow,” @Patrickgreen18 said.

“NO. They need to treat Game 5 like it’s Game 7,” @kpotter15 said.

Meanwhile, other NBA fans quipped about the Celtics beginning to lose confidence.

“The doubt has crept in,” @kyriemavs said.

“LOL, they’re already mentally preparing for this to go seven [games],” @JohnHPiette said.

After questionable comments, Jayson Tatum highlights Celtics’ need to have fun in Game 5

Shortly after sharing the Celtics’ mindset regarding not considering Game 5 a must-win, Jayson Tatum highlighted the importance of them “having fun.” According to the five-time All-Star, that was the team’s other primary point of emphasis on Sunday.

“That’s really what we talked about today. Get back to having fun and being a team and how special we are and the team that got us here,” Tatum said.

The Celtics have a combined 79-21 record in the regular season and playoffs, including a 15-3 postseason mark. So, coach Joe Mazzulla’s philosophy appears to have paid off thus far. However, given Tatum’s series of questionable comments, it remains to be seen if Boston will be focused enough to close out Dallas on Monday.