The Celtics are trying to downplay any notion that they are truly struggling right now. After scraping by to beat New Orleans, Jayson Tatum and head coach Joe Mazzulla had some things to say about the current state of the team.

Star Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is still in the race to win the NBA's 2025 Most Valuable Player award, but he's been slipping of late, according to at least some league analysts. Among them is Bleacher Report's Dan Favale,

Tatum was initially called for the technical foul for a hand slap — one of Tatum’s regular reactions — after being whistled for a foul.

Jayson Tatum is expected to take the court on Tuesday against Toronto as his name does not appear on the injury report.

Instead of overvaluing individual accolades and pure scoring, the St. Louis native has learned how to give the game what it needs .