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00:00What was Tatum's best game in the series?
00:02You gotta go with last night, I think.
00:03Or game four. The way he played down the stretch,
00:06single-handedly outscoring them
00:07over that final four.
00:08I think it was last night.
00:09So I also think it was last night.
00:10Game four, he didn't shoot well. It was almost all free throws.
00:13Just taking over, though.
00:14No, he did, but to me, last night,
00:17I know people think I'm critical of Tatum.
00:19You're probably in this group too, Terp.
00:21And I have been critical of Tatum, but I think a lot of him.
00:23And I know he's capable of stuff like what he did last night.
00:26He kept them in the game when the team
00:27could not shoot, could not score, couldn't do anything.
00:30He kept them in the game early.
00:32He had the big dunk before halftime,
00:33which helped turn the momentum
00:35along with the brainless coach on the other side,
00:37which we can get to.
00:38But he also helped open up the floodgates
00:41and kick the team into overdrive in the second half.
00:44And he shot well.
00:46And I think he showed a little bit of toughness in this series,
00:48which I don't always think he shows.
00:50So to me, last night was great.
00:52And these last three games since the wrist injury,
00:54I was pretty happy with the performance out of Tatum
00:57when we're critical of him not shooting well
00:59and scoring 18, 22 in a playoff game.
01:02Even when he's contributing rebounds and assists,
01:05this is why we're critical of that
01:06because we know he's capable of stuff like this.
01:09And this is what we've been talking about
01:09really throughout the year.
01:10Like if he's going to win MVP,
01:12it's this Jason Tatum that's going to do it.
01:13The one that's being aggressive,
01:15that's getting downhill, that's creating for others.
01:17I mean, he had a 10 assist last night.
01:18I mean, when he gets those assist numbers up,
01:20that's what's been holding him back, in my opinion,
01:22is that he hasn't had these assist numbers up.
01:24That's what's kind of been preventing him
01:26from being in serious MVP conversations.
01:28If he can do that and he can look like this,
01:30which he has shown he can,
01:31specifically since the All-Star break,
01:33he's really looked like this often since the All-Star break.
01:36This is when he breaks through and wins an MVP.
01:37This is the best Jason Tatum we've seen.
01:39And he's doing it on both ends of the floor.
01:41Like he was terrific defensively in this series as well.
01:43So this could be a really special run for Tatum
01:46when you're looking at the potential opponents they can see.
01:48I mean, he has destroyed New York this year.
01:50They've had no answer for him.
01:52They've all destroyed New York.
01:53That's the thing is, like, New York's better than Orlando,
01:56but matchup-wise, New York might be less challenging than the Magic.
02:00They are definitely, without a doubt,
02:01I think a better matchup for Boston than Orlando is.
02:04They just have no answer for themselves.
02:06Like, I would expect Porzingis to play a lot better.
02:07Much better.
02:08To your point about the physicality and just that style.