The route to three finishes
When a 16-5 Knicks run cut the deficit to one in Boston’s 107-103 victory, Jayson Tatum faced a narrowing margin. He answered with three consecutive baskets. The first came from mid-range against Josh Hart. His next make came from the corner, again against Hart. On the third possession, a screen left Karl-Anthony Towns defending him; a pump fake on the left wing preceded a three. The same player finished those possessions, but the location and defender did not remain fixed.[1]
The decisive detail for me is the ability to change the starting point while keeping the offense in the same hands. The mid-range and corner makes against Hart explain returning the ball to Tatum. The screen on the final possession then draws Towns into the defense. The limited inference is that Boston had an option beyond changing its late creator: arranging a different matchup for the same finisher. All three baskets also depended on Tatum making difficult shots, which prevents isolating the contribution of that choice.[1]
Tatum’s 36 points show the production behind that finish: 14 makes on 26 shots, nine rebounds and seven assists. In the opener he had 13 points on six makes from 23 shots, alongside 11 assists. Two games are too few to establish a permanent offensive hierarchy. The division of work in the New York finish is nevertheless clear: the finisher stays the same while the space and defender in front of him change between possessions.[1]
The possessions between the baskets
Reducing the finish to Boston’s consecutive makes also loses the New York possessions between them. After Tatum’s first basket, Towns committed an offensive foul. Following the second basket from the corner, two OG Anunoby free throws made it 103-100. Tatum’s three against Towns came next in that sequence. Every Boston possession began from the result New York had, or had not, produced at the other end.[1]
I therefore do not read the three baskets as proof that the entire offense was solved. Another plausible explanation is that a short run of difficult-shot making by Tatum carried the result. The changed matchup remains a concrete difference: after two finishes against Hart, a screen put Towns in front of the ball. Boston used both its star’s shot-making and the movement that brought him another defender. Separating those elements explains more than assigning every make entirely to the plan or entirely to individual skill.[1]
New York cutting the margin to one and Boston winning are two separate facts of the same game. Tatum’s finish offers an example of returning to the same player from different shot locations as the margin narrows. Mid-range and corner baskets were followed by a left-wing three after a screen. The hand carrying the score stayed the same; the possession arranged for it changed.[1]