The Indiana Pacers will play the Boston Celtics in their first Eastern Conference Finals trip in ten years after defeating the undermanned New York Knicks in seven games. The postseason run that Tyrese Haliburton and company have made has been remarkable. However, practically everyone in the basketball world has predicted that the Celtics will win the series. Even though they were the favorites, Vince Carter and Charles Barkley exposed a weakness in Jayson Tatum that may eventually hurt Joe Mazzulla’s team.
Kristaps Porziņģis suffered a calf injury during Game 4 of the first-round series and has been sidelined since then.
Since Porzingis hasn’t given a return date, Vince Carter thinks Jayson Tatum will have to handle a bulk of the center’s responsibilities.
Vince Carter and Charles Barkley about Jayson Tatum’s flaw
Carter claims that because JT appears to “settle,” it’s possible he won’t be able to fulfill these responsibilities. The former Duke Blue Devil must, however, go into “attack mode” and be active on both ends of the court in the Latvian’s absence. Vince said,
“I think, if there is no Porzingis, it falls on Tatum. What I mean is, sometimes he gets into situations where he settles… If there is no Porzingis, he’s going to have to be in attack mode, continue putting pressure on the defense, drawing fouls, getting to the free throw line,”
Charles Barkley not only concurred but also asserted that Kristaps Porziņěis’s absence would prevent the Boston Celtics from winning the championship. Although the Celtics might defeat the Indiana Pacers in “six or seven games,” it looks like a tough task to overcome the Dallas Mavericks or the Minnesota Timberwolves, the two teams that are in the Western Conference. Barkley said,
“I’mma probably pick the Boston Celtics… The Celtics are not gonna win the championship without Porzingis and this series, this is a six or seven games series.”
“I agree with you, he (Tatum) settles,”
