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MILWAUKEE, WI –With a taste of playoff basketball under his belt Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum got a dose of what is the most challenging feat in the NBA — winning a playoff game on the road.
Coming off a 116-92 blowout loss against the Bucks Tatum entered Game 4 of the best-of-7 series expecting the same level of physicality from Milwaukee. It’s how the Bucks played him this weekend, and the Celtics rookie knows that if Boston wants to head back home with a 3-1 lead, they’re going to have to punch back Sunday while picking up the effort defensively.
“We gotta’ be more aggressive. Play tougher, they were the more physical team.”
When Brad Stevens cancelled practice Saturday morning, Tatum and a handful of his teammates decided to hold their own practice session at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Terry Rozier, Aron Baynes, Greg Monroe, Shane Larkin among others prepared for Game 4 on their own.
Marcus Smart, who is planning to return to the lineup for Game 6, was also in attendance Saturday. Tatum talked about what Smart has meant to him throughout the first-round series.
This story was created by Josue Pavon for CLNS Media and CelticsBlog.