Jayson Tatum's Rough Stat Line in Celtics' Loss Explained by Pistons HC with 'Simple' Answer

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum had a rough open to the regular season, scoring just 13 points on 6-of-23 shooting during his team's 121-113 loss against the Detroit Pistons.

Detroit head coach JB Bickerstaff offered a concise reason for Tatum's struggles.

"Ausar Thompson. That simple," he told reporters. "You get him in one-on-one situations, you're gonna be in for a long night no matter who you are."

Tatum got off to a strong start, with 11 of his 13 points in the first half.

But the Pistons made some solid second-half adjustments while erasing a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

Thompson's defense in particular continued to impress:

Thompson, 23, led the NBA in steals last season (2.0 SPG), was a first-team All-Defensive selection and finished third in the Defensive Player of the Year voting behind San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama and Oklahoma City's Chet Holmgren.

While his offensive game remains a work in progress—he finished Tuesday's opener with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting—he made an impact on the defensive end, the boards (11 rebounds) and was a nice secondary playmaker on offense (five assists).

Tatum, meanwhile, did finish the loss with 11 assists. It's hard to imagine many games in the future where he shoots 0-for-7 from three.

And Boston will take some major positives from the game, including Paul George's monster afternoon (38 points).

Overall, a tough start for Tatum and the Celtics, but a resilient effort from Thompson and the Pistons