Jayson Tatum after Celtics loosen minutes restriction: ‘I’ve been responding really well’

BOSTON – Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum didn’t quite have the biggest outing against the Washington Wizards this month. Still, in his fourth game back from a torn Achilles tendon, Tatum checked off a new box in his recovery with a loosened minutes restriction.

Tatum finished with 20 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists over a season-high 32 minutes Saturday as the Celtics topped the Wizards 111-100. Though he said playing the entire third quarter wasn’t part of the initial plan, he expected the overall increase in minutes.

“I knew that my minutes would go up a little bit this week, and that’s just kind of the progression,” Tatum said. “I was playing 27 minutes the first three games, they go up a little bit for a week or so, see how you respond. Obviously, I’ve been responding really well and feeling great the next day and after the games. And we just go from there.”

Tatum started slowly, missing his first five shots. But after scoring his first points on two free throws with 3:04 left in the second quarter, he quickly followed up with a long 3-pointer and another pull-up jumper. By halftime, he had collected seven points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Tatum turned it up in the third quarter while scoring 11 more points. He opened the quarter by scoring through contact at the rim and added another layup moments later. After missing a one-legged 3-point attempt, he pushed the Celtics’ lead to 76-51 by drilling a pull-up 3-pointer with a more normal release. Tatum later blew past Alex Sarr for another layup and converted a transition dunk.

“Just giving the game what it needs on the offensive end,” said Joe Mazzulla. “Reading two-on-ones, executing defensively, rebounding, understanding personnel, who he’s guarding, competing, so just the details and the simple things, continuing to get in shape. But right now, the most important thing is just giving the game what it needs on both ends of the floor, and he’s doing a good job of that.”

Tatum checked back in with 6:11 left in the game to play another five minutes. He had been restricted to 27 minutes in each of his first three games this season. It’s unclear whether he would have played more than 32 minutes if the game had been closer. The Celtics subbed him out for good while leading 109-92 with 1:33 left.

“I obviously understand the bigger picture and the plan,” Tatum said. “Sticking with the plan in the moment is kind of tough. Obviously, I want to be out there as much as possible. But today I got to play more than the first three games, so I’ll take that.”

The Celtics recently wrapped up a three-game road trip that pitted them against a trio of title contenders in the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder. After those matchups, Saturday’s game against the lottery-bound Wizards qualified as a step down (or many steps down) in competition. Washington, which recently allowed 83 points to Bam Adebayo in the second-highest scoring game in NBA history, entered Saturday on a 10-game losing skid.

The Celtics extended the Wizards’ losing streak to 11. Neemias Queta, who led Boston with 24 points, scored enough early in the first quarter to prompt some bad jokes about how he was on pace to top Adebayo’s scoring mark. Queta, who reached the 20-point mark once in his career before Saturday, tallied 22 points before halftime without shooting once from outside the paint. He shot 10 of 12 from the field over the first two quarters before making his only shot attempt of the second half.

Queta said the attention on teammates like Tatum freed him for such a big first half.

“Having that elite of a player on the perimeter just makes my job easier, because a lot of times if you have to pick and choose who you’re going to go against, they’re going to leave me open,” Queta said. “So just capitalize on that.”

Tatum was given a night off for injury management during Thursday night’s loss to the Thunder, but has played in four of the Celtics’ last five games. He said he feels “a lot more relaxed” now than he did in his season debut on March 6.

“Obviously, the first game was such a big day and moment,” Tatum said. “I think now, I’m finding more and more moments each game where I’m feeling more confident, more explosive. Whether it’s driving a close out or reacting or something, it’s just more and more moments each game where I find plays where maybe it’s not like a big play people would notice, but something that I noticed, or like I heard that gave me confidence.”

Tatum brought up one play in particular from a recent loss to the Spurs, when he found success attacking Victor Wembanyama in space.

“I pump faked, pushed off that leg, went through the lane, jumped off that leg,” Tatum said. “Just things like that, that I’m doing without thinking. Those are big steps.”

In some ways, Tatum even enjoyed getting shoved to the court by Wembanyama in the same game.

“I think you’ve got to enjoy all aspects of coming back to play, not just the fun parts,” Tatum said. “Like, getting knocked on your ass and falling is part of being in the NBA. When he pushed me, it knocked me off balance. But I laid there for a second, and I was like, ‘All right, now I’m fine.’ It’s just moments like that where it’s been a while since something like that has happened. So it is a good feeling of, like, all right, I’m back.”