Celtics

Jrue Holiday was one in all three Celtics to take home a gold medal for Team USA on the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Both Holiday and Derrick White served as two reliable backcourt options on head coach Steve Kerr's squad in the course of the international tournament. The same can’t be said for Jayson Tatum.

After a dominant 2023-24 season during which Tatum helped lead Boston to its 18th championship, the star forward was expected to be a everlasting fixture on Team USA's roster.

Finally, Tatum played a key role in Team USA's gold medal win on the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo (20.5 minutes per game, 15.2 points per game).

But within the 2024 Games, Tatum played a complete of just 71 minutes in 4 games – with Kerr opting to take a seat out Tatum in two games against Serbia. Only 24-year-old guard Tyrese Haliburton saw less motion for Team USA in the course of the tournament than Tatum.

While Tatum has been vocal in regards to the ups and downs of the 2024 Olympics, Holiday admitted in a recent interview on Paul George's “Podcast P” show that he was also surprised that Tatum's minutes were diminished in Paris.

“Was it strange? Yes – it’s Jayson Tatum,” Holiday admitted. “What do you mean? The five best players within the league. Just won a championship, among the best players within the playoffs and in [NBA Finals’. When it was happening, like, yeah, you feel for him.  You could see that, yeah, he’s upset.”

For Holiday, who also won a gold medal alongside Tatum during the 2020 Olympics, it was a bittersweet feeling to see Tatum stuck on the bench during critical games against Nikola Jokic and Serbia. 

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity or experience where you get to be around some of the greatest athletes in the world,” Holiday said. “On the flip side, like just winning the championship with my boys, and then knowing how good they are, and they are good enough to be on this team, it’s definitely hard to see. Because, I mean, you want the best for your man.” 

Even though Tatum was upset about falling out of Kerr’s rotation, Holiday stressed that the Celtics star didn’t let those frustrations bleed into Team USA’s approach during the tournament. 

“He wants to play,” Holiday said of Tatum. “What’s going to be best for the team? I don’t want to mess up any chemistry. He wasn’t pouting. I could tell you that. He would get in the gym. It’s not like he stopped working. He was the one seriously trying to be like, ‘All right, well, I’m gonna stay ready whenever my numbers are called.”

Celtics

Jayson Tatum downplayed the importance of the sport with the Warriors after the Celtics lost 118-112 at TD Garden on Wednesday night.

The Warriors also defeated the Celtics within the 2022 NBA Finals. Their coach Steve Kerr benched Tatum twice in the course of the Olympics.

Kerr said before the sport that he didn't enjoy benching Tatum, but noted that the team had 12 potential Hall of Famers eager to win and ultimately achieved its goal of winning a gold medal had.

Tatum said he didn't spend much time before the sport interested by what happened in Paris this summer.

“That wasn’t in my head,” Tatum said. “Just another Wednesday. Another game, another opportunity to come in and try to be the best player I can be and try to get a win.”

Back in September, Tatum described the situation as difficult and difficult and said he desired to contribute more. However, anyone expecting a dramatic response from him shouldn't expect one, he said.

“It’s part of this job. This is what I have dealt with my entire career. People want me to be loud or mean or whatever,” Tatum said. “One thing about Jayson is that I will always do whatever (expletive) I want to do and approach things the way I want to approach them, in a way that I feel like it suits my personality corresponds.

“Not that it comes from a bad place. Sometimes it comes from a good place,” he added. “People react differently, or you can easily say what they would do if they were in my shoes. I appreciate it when it comes from a good place, but like I said, I’m always going to respond, react and approach things the way I want to.”

Tatum said that learning to not care a lot about other people's opinions has been helpful to him over time in his NBA profession.

“Excuse my language, but it's all about learning how not to say a curse word,” Tatum said. “I feel very comfortable in my skin. I am happy with the things I have achieved. I know who I am. I feel comfortable making my own decisions and doing them the way I want.”

“When you're younger, you might be very consumed or worried about pleasing people you don't know or something like that. If I do things the way I want to do them, I can live with the outcome in any situation and that’s where I’ve come in my life.”

The Celtics have lost two of their last five games. Tatum praised the Warriors for his or her physicality.

“I think they just did a good job of being more physical and obviously they blitzed all the ball screens that I passed,” Tatum said. “We were – I speak for myself – a bit rushed in the first half and I think in the second half we just accepted it and played with more patience and made the right decision most of the time.”

The Celtics could have used a greater effort defensively, Tatum said.

“Just some of those 50-50 balls in critical moments where I didn't inch past Buddy Hield's three,” Tatum said. “The airball they got, the tip-in. I blocked Steph's shot, they got the loose ball and made the layup. It is in these moments that we know we can be better, and we have done so in the past. At the end of the game we just didn’t make enough plays in that regard.”

Bruins

After their October swoon, the Boston Bruins used the last two games to slowly construct their identity.

After twiddling with pace and emotion in Saturday's shock win over the Philadelphia Flyers, Jim Montgomery's club picked up where it left off in Sunday's 2-0 victory over the Seattle Kraken.

After one among their higher starts this young yr, the Bruins hit some lulls. Still, despite the fatigue, they persevered and earned their second shutout in a matter of days.

Here are a number of thoughts on an evening where the Bruins were honored the colourful Jack Edwards for his 19 years behind the NESN microphone.

Montgomery benches David Pastrnak for the ultimate 20

Even after their second shutout in as many days – a feat they last completed on October 27 and 28, 2008 – the Bruins experienced some turmoil that affected one among their leading scorers.

Montgomery shortened his bench after sitting David Pastrnak for the whole third period.

Pastrnak hit the online seven times in the primary two periods. Even without scoring some extent, Seattle's penalty kill in the primary frame drew attention and paved the best way for Charlie Coyle's highlight reel.

Still, Pastrnak generated his share of turnovers and struggled to handle the puck at times, particularly through the final 1:40 of the second, during Boston's fifth and final probability with the person advantage.

Montgomery didn’t elaborate on his reasons for benching one among his assistant captains during his postgame press conference.

“The coach’s decision,” Montgomery said. “That’s all I’m going to say about it.”

The only ice time Pastrnak saw within the third period got here when he took a whirl during a TV timeout. Despite the dearth of ice time in a closeout situation, Pastrnak remained energetic and optimistic on the bench, supporting his teammates as they capped the 2-0 win.

“He didn’t stay silent,” Coyle said of Pastrnak. “He brought energy. He was talking. He was thrilled. That's the sign of a good teammate. And that’s why he’s one of our captains and one of our leaders.”

Montgomery began messaging mode with one other of his leaders. But Boston's energy remained contagious from the primary puck drop.

Another determined start helps the Bruins overcome the last-40 slump

For the second game in a row, Boston looked determined from the beginning.

The Bruins looked like a brisker bunch even within the second half of back-to-back games. They might also have benefited from the undeniable fact that the Kraken arrived in Boston within the early hours of the morning after their 3-0 loss in Ottawa on Saturday night.

Through their relentless pursuit of the puck and a stingy checking presence, the Bruins gained an early advantage because of Justin Brazeau's tip and Coyle's power play marker.

Justin Brazeau suggestions a shot from Nikita Zadorov for his fourth goal in his last six games. Charlie Coyle kept the play alive from the knee to bring it back to the blue line. pic.twitter.com/vltGy6bWee

– Bear with me (@BearWithMe_Pod) November 3, 2024

The Bruins nearly prolonged their result in 3-0 late in the primary frame until an offside call from Pave negated Zacha's opponent. This, together with a somewhat sloppy power play attempt in the ultimate minutes, created a rare blemish in an otherwise dominant 20 minutes.

Montgomery's club beat Seattle 15-3 in the primary game. The Kraken didn't get its first shot on net until 17:01 of the primary frame.

But identical to Joonas Korpisalo's shot into the online in Saturday's win at Philadelphia, the Bruins had their justifiable share of problems over the following 40 minutes, starting from turnovers to poor possession of the puck. But as they faced heavier traffic as a consequence of Seattle's setback, the Bruins got one other round of timely stops from Jeremy Swayman, including 13 in the ultimate frame, to secure their sixth win of the yr.

“I liked our first period, didn't like the second, which was a lot like the Flyer game,” Montgomery said of Boston's bend-but-don't-break performance.

“Our implementation still needs to grow. Our level of maturity as a team when it comes to game management still needs to grow. We're winning games right now. You don't give up any goals and your goalkeepers play as well as they did. It's a good step. We are on the right track. November was much better than October.”

Coach Montgomery on the #NHLBruins Shutout win over Seattle: “I like the trouble of blocking shots, I like that we stick together… you see us coming together. We defend the pitch and sacrifice for one another. Our performance must proceed to grow.” ” pic.twitter.com/rl8tmLAC0t

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 4, 2024

The Bruins proceed to come back together after their second straight shutout

For the primary time under Montgomery, the Bruins posted a losing record within the second month of the season. The slow start put them in uncharted territory, posting a combined October record of 16-1-1 in Montgomery's first two seasons.

After two straight postseason exits to the Florida Panthers, the Bruins are hoping to capitalize on this adversity early within the season.

Even after their two most up-to-date wins, Montgomery's club knows they will not be quite where they wish to be in terms of living as much as their identity. But within the last two games they’ve shown more resilience in several scenarios.

Against the Flyers, the Bruins held out in a shaky midfield and even prolonged their result in 2-0 after Korpisalo's timely stop. Despite Seattle's setback during the last 20 games, the Bruins remained stingy on defense, blocking several shots while Swayman was in a position to track pucks cleanly.

Be it defensive stinginess, timely goals or other supportive methods, much like how Trent Frederic was annoyed by Adam Larsson's goal within the third period, the Bruins got here together to stop the proverbial bleeding. With one other small step forward, the Bruins hope to take one other step Tuesday night in Toronto and extend their winning streak to 3 for the primary time this season.

“I think there's a lot to build on, and we know there's going to be outside noise whether we win or lose,” Swayman said after his 23-save effort. “So our job is to keep those doors closed and keep the momentum going in our room and make sure we show up on the ice every day. And that’s exactly what we’ve been doing over the last few days and I think it’s a really great way to move forward.”