In the Celtics 129-106 win over the Nets on Thursday night, Jayson Tatum decided to dunk the ball instead of passing it to his teammate, Grant Williams.
Tatum and Williams had a two-on-one fast break in the fourth quarter, which caused Williams to look at his teammate and point to the sky. Regardless, Tatum didn’t change his mind on where the ball was going.
In his post-game press conference, Tatum was asked why he didn’t give Williams the ball after he signaled for the alley-oop. This caused the Celtics forward to start laughing.
“He had a better chance of just calling for the ball, I think,” Tatum said. “When he pointed up is when I made the executive decision of taking it myself. Maybe we can practice it, but in-game I do not feel comfortable throwing Grant Williams an alley-oop on a fast break.”
Tatum also explained that if Williams has ever caught a lob for an alley-oop, it’s probably only been two or three times. He continued, saying he would rather throw the ball to Boston’s other Williams (Robert) and Jaylen Brown. He admitted Grant is a “lot lower on that list.”
