![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages_jaysontatum.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Jayson Tatum scored a season-best 32 points in a win over Charlotte Sunday.<\/p>\n
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) \u2014 With 5:57 remaining against the Charlotte Hornets, Jayson Tatum sized up forward Miles Bridges at the top of the key, used a ball fake to get the defender off balanced for just a moment and then quickly rose up and buried a 3-pointer without hesitation.<\/p>\n
It was the type of play Celtics fans have been waiting for from Tatum since the six-time NBA All-Star returned to action following a torn Achilles last May.<\/p>\n
After the game, Tatum was asked by a reporter if it was crazy to say the shot \u2014 and his reaction \u2014 signaled that he\u2019s back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, no, that wouldn\u2019t be crazy to say,\u201d Tatum replied.<\/p>\n
In other words, Tatum, now 11 games into his return, is starting to feel it.<\/p>\n
Tatum never returned to the game after he gave the Celtics a 16-point lead.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t have to \u2014 the dagger 3 essentially buried the Hornets.<\/p>\n
He finished with a season-high 32 points on 12-for-23 shooting \u2014 including 5-for-10 from beyond the arc \u2014 to go along with eight assists, five rebounds and a block in 31 minutes of action as Boston beat Charlotte 114-99.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t just the shot that served as a reminder of how dominant Tatum can be as a player. He made turn-around jumpers off one foot, beat opponents to the basket on drives, had a rousing two-hand dunk and set up teammates with open looks after drawing double teams, all the while playing with patience and poise.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t feel like I was sped up,\u201d Tatum said. \u201cI was still kind of tired, so that\u2019s something I\u2019m still working through. But I like that I\u2019m being decisive in my movements and exploding when I need to (and) reacting. Obviously it helps when you make shots. I can say I feel better than I did last game. Hopefully I feel better in the next game than I did today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tatum became the youngest player in Celtics history to reach 14,000 points. But he\u2019s happier just to be playing basketball again at a high level after a grueling rehabilitation process. The Celtics are happy, too. They are 9-2 since he\u2019s returned to the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had to work my (tail) off just to run up and down the floor,\u201d Tatum said.<\/p>\n
Celtics guard Payton Pritchard, who had 28 points in the win, said Tatum\u2019s outing was \u201cencouraging\u201d as the Eastern Conference\u2019s second-best team prepares to make a run at an NBA championship.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was just very efficient in his movements and got to his spots,\u201d Pritchard said. \u201cHe looked like a killer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jayson Tatum scored a season-best 32 points in a win over Charlotte Sunday. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) \u2014 With…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,143472,176129,105],"class_list":["post-365310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-jayson-tatum","tag-season-high-32-points","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}