Former Duke basketball star leaves NBA bubble receiving much criticism

Duke basketball star Jayson Tatum is leaving the NBA bubble after receiving criticism for his spotty play.

For all intents and purposes, Jayson Tatum was simply incredible during the NBA’s restarted season and into the playoffs, but the former Blue Devil is receiving some criticism for his spotty play in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The first-time All-Star was sensational through the first three games of the series against the Miami Heat, despite trailing the series, 2-1. But a rare bad first half in Game Four, where Tatum went scoreless on 0-of-6 shooting, was a sign of things to come in the first 24 minutes the remainder of the series.

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In Game Five, the Third Team All-NBA selection went 3-of-9 for 10 points in the first half and then 5-of-15 for 12 points in the first half of Game Six, as the Boston Celtics lost the series, 4-2, against the Miami Heat.

Tatum combined to shoot 8-of-30 for 22 points in the final three first halves of the series.

While the bad first halves from Tatum have caused struggles for the Celtics in the last three games of the series, the former Blue Devil responded with incredible second halves, none better than the 28 points he poured in during Game Four.

Jayson Tatum did manage to average 26.5 points per game in the series while shooting 42.2 percent from the field. Yet his struggles from 3-point range continued, shooting just 26.4 percent from beyond the arc.

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Tatum also averaged 9.8 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 1.3 steals in the series.

The majority of the criticism around Jayson Tatum was his inability to play a consistent 48 minutes the final three games of the series against Miami, and if the All-Star’s performance was better, Boston could be on its way to the NBA Finals to face the Los Angeles Lakers.

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Instead, the Celtics are on their way back to Boston for a potential long offseason where the NBA might not return until late December or January, at the earliest. But at only 22 years old, expect to see the greatness of Jayson Tatum for a long time to come in the NBA Playoffs.

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