32-point, eight-assist, five-rebound effort against the Charlotte Hornets<\/a>. He was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week after averaging 25.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game last week, then led the Celtics past the Miami Heat with 25 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists on Wednesday.<\/p>\nDespite dealing with a minutes restriction in multiple games, Tatum has averaged 21.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game since returning. And he didn\u2019t need long to shed his minutes restriction. Who would have predicted him playing 37 minutes in a game, like he has done twice already, this early in his recovery?<\/p>\n
Tatum isn\u2019t even 11 months removed from tearing an Achilles tendon. History says he shouldn\u2019t be playing at this level right now. While it is still extremely early, he looks like a threat to join Kevin Durant and Dominique Wilkins among the greatest Achilles success stories in NBA history. Tatum should be chasing another great, Klay Thompson. In 2022, Thompson returned to the Golden State Warriors in January and helped them win a championship four months later.<\/p>\n
What a story it would be if Tatum pulls off a similar feat. At this point, anything is possible for the Celtics. They looked like a contender without him. For all of the chatter about the challenges his return would present, he has fortified Boston from day one. The Celtics have won seven of his 12 games by double digits. With him, they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers by 11 points on the road and the full-strength Oklahoma City Thunder by 10 points at home. In possible first-round previews over Tatum\u2019s last two games, the Celtics pummeled the Hornets and Heat on the road.<\/p>\n
Tatum should look hesitant at this stage, but he has averaged the same number of drives per game (10.3) as he did last season (10.3). He should have defensive limitations, but Boston\u2019s defensive rating of 108.1 with him on the court would rank second in the league over a full season. He is also on pace to shatter his previous career high in defensive rebound rate. Some indicators, such as his wobbly shooting percentages and a dip in his free-throw rate, still suggest he isn\u2019t fully himself, but he\u2019s much closer than any reasonable projection would have placed him.<\/p>\n
The rest of the Eastern Conference must be sick. Tatum\u2019s injury was supposed to end Boston\u2019s chances this season. It could have damaged the Celtics for the foreseeable future. Instead, head coach Joe Mazzulla, Jaylen Brown and the rest of Boston\u2019s core refused to let the injury derail the team. In Tatum\u2019s absence, the Celtics found (Molded? Conjured?) a group of young contributors who know their roles and fill them well.<\/p>\n
Now, Tatum is back and already producing at an All-Star level. He should only improve as he regains more of his conditioning and rhythm. And Boston, with its salary cap nightmare behind it, is positioned to contend for years to come. The Celtics\u2019 roster is far more talented than outsiders realized entering this season, and the franchise might have the best coach-executive combination in the league with Mazzulla and general manager Brad Stevens.<\/p>\n
Given the unlimited promise of the Celtics\u2019 situation, it\u2019s almost like the injury never happened. It did, of course. Tatum\u2019s play since returning has been telling. It reveals how seriously he took his rehabilitation. It shows the extent of his determination. It gives the Celtics a realistic chance to compete for the Larry O\u2019Brien trophy this season. If Tatum does bring home that championship trophy, his comeback would be remembered among the all-time best.<\/p>\n
Maybe we shouldn\u2019t get ahead of ourselves. As impressive as Tatum has been, tougher challenges are ahead. The playoffs will demand more out of him physically. They will give him constant mental tests. If his game has any cracks, opponents will target them. If he doesn\u2019t feel fully confident, the postseason will reveal it. For now, though, he looks to be regaining more of his swagger every time he steps onto the court.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a great player, and their ceiling is significantly higher when he\u2019s out there,\u201d Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said recently. \u201cThere\u2019s also \u2014 and I\u2019ve talked about this with our players \u2014 there\u2019s return to play and then there\u2019s return to performance. So if you\u2019re coming off a long-term injury like that, I would expect that he\u2019s not full-formed right off the bat, and he\u2019ll just get better and better as he gets more reps and minutes and as they get more reps and minutes (together). But he certainly changes the complexion of their team because of his talent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tatum has already changed the complexion of the Celtics. He has been good enough for Boston fans to dream. Heck, reality must feel like a dream already. In three months, he has gone from doubting how he would fit back in to winning Eastern Conference Player of the Week. And he is only beginning to find his flow.<\/p>\n
Hauser was right to caution that the Celtics wouldn\u2019t have a grace period with Tatum, but the greats don\u2019t always need grace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before Jayson Tatum\u2019s season debut on March 6, Sam Hauser laid out the difficulty his teammate would encounter.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[2242,355,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-561986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-boston-celtics","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}