Celtics’ Jayson Tatum: I Felt Like Nuggets Matched Up With Us Best

Celtics star Jayson Tatum says he believes what the rest of the NBA-loving universe seemed to think at the start of last year’s playoffs. And that would be that the then-reigning champion Nuggets would’ve offered the staunchest matchup for Boston in the Finals.

But the Celtics ended up playing and nearly sweeping the Mavericks instead. Meanwhile, the Nuggets inexplicably lost a Game 7 at home to the Timberwolves in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals. Along the way, Denver blew a big lead.

That caught everyone off guard, and suddenly, the Celtics’ road to a title looked a little easier. Just ask Tatum.

“People always ask me, when did you guys know you were going to win a championship? When Minnesota beat Denver, I felt like Denver was the only team that matched up best with us,” Tatum told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. “I thought that we were going to play Denver in the Finals and it was going to be a good one.”

Again, welcome to the club, Jayson. I personally was excited to see what would transpire when the Celtics squared off with the Nuggets. I was less excited to see the Celtics vs. the Mavericks, and for the reason Tatum cited. Dallas just didn’t match up as well as Denver.

That’s nothing against the Mavs. They deserved to be there. And they may get there again after adding Klay Thompson to Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. But any team with Nuggets star Nikola Jokic has a great shot, too.

That said, Denver lost Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Magic in free agency, and lacks depth. It’s hard to predict what happens next.

As for the Celtics … yeah, they bring everyone back.