Bold Predictions for Boston Celtics vs. Dallas Mavericks NBA Finals Game 3 Matchup | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Most of the discussion surrounding Tatum in this series has focused on how poorly he's shooting. And yeah, 17.0 points on 19.0 shot attempts per game is bad.

But he's still helping his team win. Tatum's averages for rebounds (10.0) and assists (8.5) lead all Celtics. He's playing good defense on the perimeter. Boston's plus-13.5 points per 100 possessions when he's on the floor and plus-7.2 when he's not.

Basketball analysis shouldn't begin and end with points per game. And you don't have to venture far beyond that column to realize Tatum has been, at the very least, solid during the Finals.

In Game 3, the shooting will finally start to catch up with everything else. Tatum's just too good for this to persist throughout the series. In Rounds 2 and 3, he averaged 28.3 points on 21.9 attempts. Over his four postseason runs prior to this one, he averaged 26.5 points, while shooting 43.8 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from deep.