Will Tatum and the Celtics ever learn?

All day Thursday all I heard were sports radio hosts on both Boston sports stations mocking the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Celtics were going to blow out the Cavs in Game 2. Cleveland has no chance. Maybe they’ll steal one in Cleveland, but even that was unlikely.

Well, guess what? The Cavaliers did not steal one. They crushed the Celtics on their own home court in front of a stunned crowd. If you put even a single dollar on Cleveland winning by 24, you would be a happy person today.

It continues a disturbing trend which has plagued the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown era Celtics. Once the two superstars established themselves in the NBA and once the keys to the team were handed to them, they have comported themselves like players that have won multiple championships. They sleepwalk through games. They think all they have to do is show up at the arena and step on the floor and they are going to win.

But this is the NBA. The Celtics struggled last year against the Hawks and 76ers before losing the first three games to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. They’d rally back to tie the series, but they couldn’t finish off the historic comeback in Game 7. After winning Game Six, you'd think the Celtics had already won the series by the way they were talking.

The year before, the Celtics choked away a 2-1 series lead in the Finals against Golden State – losing the final three games in a row, two of which were at home. That Golden State team led by Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green knew how to win.

This year’s Celtics’ team is picked by everybody to easily make the Finals. Denver or Minnesota will be a challenge in the Finals, but there shouldn’t be anyone in the East who should threaten them. There is no more Giannis or Embiid left to contend with. The New York Knicks have been a fun story, but Jalen Brunson is banged up and their starters have been playing major minutes.

But somebody has to tell these Celtics they still need to go out and play, and play hard. This team may be the most athletic team in the NBA, but no one can measure heart. But you can see it. And you can see when a team plays with no heart.

Thursday night, the Celtics played with no heart. We’ll get to Jayson Tatum in a minute.

There has been no one hotter in the NBA in the last couple of weeks than Derrick White. Why is he only taking three shots in the first half then? He was way too satisfied to take a back seat to Brown and Tatum last night. He finished only 1-of-8 from three=point range on the night and his shoulders slumped more and more after each miss.

Heart can be measured by the amount of points scored in the paint and rebounding. Cleveland outscored the Celtics, 60-44, in the paint. They outrebounded Boston, 44-31. That is obscene.

Boston also walked the ball up the court all night. They had only eight fast break points. That’s just four easy buckets. All night I could hear Tommy Heinsohn's voice in my head, screaming, "Push the ball up the court!"

Jrue Holiday was an absolute no show. Here was his line from last night in 35 minutes on the court – 4 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists. How much was the extension they gave him this season? ($135 million is the answer)

Al Horford hit two early threes, but the Celtics needed him to rebound. He finished with two rebounds in 29 minutes. His backup, Luke Kornet, was either hiding in the corner of the court or being pushed around underneath all night. He had 10 rebounds in 21 minutes in Game 1, but had only 3 in 12 minutes in Game 2.

And then we get to Jayson Tatum. I am amazed at how people defend him in the playoffs. Hey, he is still getting triple doubles every night. Meanwhile, Jaylen Brown can score 32 points and he gets heat from fans and media for turning the ball over when he drives to the basket. Give me Jaylen Brown any day. Brown isn’t very vocal on the court, but he plays with heart. He leads by example. He sounds like a leader when he has to face the media following games.

Meanwhile you have a chill Tatum after the game bemoaning the fact that everybody thinks the Celtics should win by 25 every night. Yes, they should. Tatum makes it sound like it is okay to take a night off every once in a while. That mentality is the mentality that gets teams into 3-0 series holes with teams like the Miami Heat.

Tatum's idol is Kobe Bryant, but he will never approach Kobe’s lofty status. That’s the thing that separates players like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan from players like James Harden, Kevin Durant, and Jayson Tatum. Desire. Passion. Kobe and Jordan wanted to tear the heart out of their opponents every night. No mercy. None of this everyone thinks we should win every game. Yes, they wanted to win every game – be it basketball, golf, ping pong. No mercy.

Tatum doesn’t have that “it" factor. He is more interested in portraying himself as a star rather than putting in the work to be one. He is not a leader of men. He is always looking to make excuses. If he misses, he is always fouled.

Anybody who has played any semblance of team basketball has experienced “the zone.” Anyone can look good when they are in “the zone.” Tatum had that one playoff game where he scored 50. He played it up that night, standing at mid court, cupping his ear as he encouraged the crowd to cheer louder. Boy, did he soak in that one game.

Tatum averaged 26.9 points per game during the regular season this year. He is averaging 21.2 in the playoffs. He is shooting 40% from the field and 25% from three-point range. These are not superstar numbers. Tatum likes to think of himself as one of the superstars in the league, but he just does not play like one in the postseason. Tatum is a superstar during the regular season, but he slinks back into the shadows in the playoffs.

The Celtics may still win the NBA title this year, but this performance last night reminds me that this Tatum-led team does not know what it takes to win it all. After the Celtics get eliminated every year, Tatum says it is a learning experience and they'll come back stronger. He keeps saying he has learned his lesson. But he hasn’t. He doesn’t have the mamba mentality.