Jayson Tatum takes shot at the Orlando Magic

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum.

The Boston Celtics lost to the Orlando Magic on Friday, marking the team’s first in-season tournament defeat. Point differential is used as a tiebreaker in the new tournament, encouraging teams to continue looking for buckets even when the game is over.

Speaking to the media on Sunday following the Celtics win over the Atlanta Hawks, Jayson Tatum revealed he wasn’t impressed with Orlando’s desire to boost the final score between the two teams, noting how it was a lack of respect for the game.

“The point differential thing,” Tatum said. “I’m not the biggest fan of it. There are certain instances, like last Friday, where the game was already over, and guys were still trying to score. It’s all about respecting the game and respecting your opponents. That part, I’m not really a fan of. Because if you were on the opposite end of that, you would feel some kind of way. Just try to win the game however you can.” 

The benefit of having a positive point differential is that it acts as a tiebreaker if two teams in the same group have the same record. However, as Tatum noted, running up the score on your opponent can be viewed as disrespectful. It wasn’t too long ago that the Toronto Raptors were upset with Joe Mazzulla for challenging a referee’s decision during garbage time. The situations were different, but the principle was the same.

Now that Tatum has pointed out the respect factor involved with point differential, it will be interesting to see if the Celtics go for the jugular when they face the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday. The Celtics need a win and other results to go their way if they’re going to progress onto the knockout stages of the tournament.

Yet, the Celtics will need to be respectful if the game is over before the final whistle. Otherwise, Tatum could find himself having to address his own comments in the coming days.

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