As the NBA season takes off, former Blue Devils differ in how they’ve been shooting and contributing to their respective teams in the regular season. Here’s what happened over the last week:
Tatum in a shooting funk
Weak defensive performances by the Boston Celtics have jeopardized their success in recent games. But it’s no secret that forward Jayson Tatum’s has had an uncharacteristic streak of inconsistent shooting that has hindered the offensive end of the Celtics’ game, too. The Celtics forward has been shooting 37.3% from the field throughout the season, compared to the 45.9% he shot in the 2020-21 season. He put up 10 points against the Miami Heat on Thursday, shooting only 3-of-13 from the field.
However, don’t count Tatum out as a scoring threat to other teams. He put up 41 points and had eight assists against the Charlotte Hornets Oct. 25; the game before, he went 12-of-24 from the field and added four 3-pointers to rack up 31 points, along with nine rebounds.
The Celtics have seen solid performances by Al Horford, while Jaylen Brown has worked on bringing the team the shooting efficiency that Tatum has been lacking lately. Tatum doesn’t need to play like he did against the Hornets every game for the Celtics to be successful, but he does need to see more attempts from beyond the arc with a better performance from the field to keep strengthening Boston’s offensive momentum.
Reddish productive off the bench, but lacks dimension
Atlanta Hawks forward Cam Reddish hasn’t mustered as many minutes as Tatum, but he’s recently been more productive on the court than the Celtics forward and proves that he can help get points when the team needs more energy. Reddish hasn’t been particularly spectacular in terms of rebounds and assists, so some more offensive aggression can help build his role as a multi-faceted player and help him keep pulling some minutes from starters.
He scored 20 points across 27 minutes in last Thursday’s loss to the Washington Wizards. Reddish went 3-of-6 from the 3-point line Monday and finished a 27-minute performance with 15 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals, again against the Wizards. However, after going 1-for-6 from the field Thursday against the Utah Jazz and Wednesday against the Brooklyn Nets, one can only hope he won’t fall into the funk haunting Tatum in Boston.
Keeping up with the Joneses
Tyus Jones had a standout game Monday against the Denver Nuggets, putting up 17 points on 66.7% from the field. He earned two career highs that night, putting up five 3-pointers and grabbing eight rebounds.
The Memphis Grizzlies’ point guard has had a 54.2% field goal percentage throughout the regular season and connected on 50.0% from the three-point line. If he continues to prove himself a valuable point-scorer and a key rebounder for Memphis, he’ll cement himself as a powerful bench player and be able to consistently help back up star players like Ja Morant.
Curry stays unstoppable
Seth Curry has scored more than 20 points in each of the 76ers’ last three games, shooting an 9-of-14 in both of their last two contests and 10-for-17 Monday against the Portland Trail Blazers. With Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris absent from the court, Curry has had more opportunities to contribute to Philadelphia’s offense and has clearly grown in confidence over the last few games; just compare his 22 points Wednesday to the four he scored Oct. 26 in a loss to the New York Knicks.
As a point guard, he isn’t able to make a huge impact on the boards, evidenced by his zero offensive rebounds in each of his last six games, but consistent assists and strong shooting show that he’s been able to cement his role from the top of the arc and help guide the 76ers as they work to improve their transition offense.
Pelicans' Ingram out with hip contusion
Brandon Ingram missed the last three games due to a hip contusion. In the meantime, Josh Hart has taken his spot in the New Orleans starting five, but Ingram is expected to reclaim his starting position if deemed ready to return.
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Leah Boyd is a Pratt senior and a social chair of The Chronicle's 118th volume. She was previously editor-in-chief for Volume 117.