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<\/p>\nBOSTON \u2014 Jayson Tatum crouched down at midcourt, on top of the Boston Celtics logo, to watch the end of the first quarter. As Derrick White fired a desperation heave, Tatum could not do anything to alter the outcome of the final Celtics possession. For a play so early in the game, it didn\u2019t seem to matter all that much, anyway.<\/p>\n
By then, Tatum had controlled enough of the first quarter that White\u2019s shot, which missed its mark, would have been like a match in an inferno. Ahead big already in a game they eventually won 123-91, Tatum and the Celtics opened their first-round series with enough intensity and focus to melt the Philadelphia 76ers.<\/p>\n
And Tatum, midway through a 21-point first-half, was well on his way to an emphatic playoff return.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty nuts kind of how far he\u2019s come,\u201d Sam Hauser said, \u201cand how fast he\u2019s gotten back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kevin Garnett once famously reacted to winning a championship by hollering, \u201cAnything is possible.\u201d At this point, Tatum and the Celtics must feel the same way. Based on how often he has brought up the frustration of not feeling like his normal self, he would likely say he\u2019s not 100 percent yet. Still, he was close enough to it to take over the first half of a playoff game Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust shows how determined and committed he was to his rehab and wanting to get back, and the belief he had in us to \u2014 the chance we have to hopefully make a deep run,\u201d Hauser said. \u201cSo it\u2019s pretty impressive what he\u2019s doing. And he never takes a day for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tatum came back strong in his return from a torn Achilles in March. His improvement since has been even more promising. The 76ers couldn\u2019t handle him Sunday as he collected 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals before halftime. The Celtics didn\u2019t need much production from him in the second half, but he finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Tatum made 9 of 17 shots while committing just one turnover.<\/p>\n
\u201cThought (his performance) was really good,\u201d coach Joe Mazzulla said. \u201cRebounding was great. He changed (defensive) matchups six, seven, eight times throughout the game. I thought that was great there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tatum scored for the first time on a short jumper over Andre Drummond with 9:37 left in the first quarter. Two minutes later, after helping force a turnover, Tatum beat the 76ers down the floor for a layup. On the next Celtics possession, he posted up Tyrese Maxey and drained a feathery jumper over the smaller guard. Before the first quarter ended, he scored two more baskets, including one loud dunk.<\/p>\n
With about a minute left in the first quarter, Tatum split two 76ers defenders off the bounce, beat a third to the basket, and took off from the dotted line. After hammering the ball through the rim, he looked into the crowd for a second and screamed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just did a good job of getting downhill,\u201d said 76ers coach Nick Nurse. \u201c\u2026 And we just were caught in not very good help positions with him, which just can\u2019t happen. I mean, he got to some space, and we can\u2019t let him do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Jayson Tatum scored 21 points in the first half in a game the Celtics controlled from start to finish. (Winslow Townson \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Tatum didn\u2019t just create for himself. He found Neemias Queta twice near the rim and helped Hauser (12 points) get going early.<\/p>\n
\u201cOffensively, he just gave the game what it needed,\u201d Mazzulla said. \u201cHe was seeing aggressive pick-and-roll coverage. With that, you (need to) be able to make the right play for yourself and others. I thought he did a great job of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Such performances no longer seem out of the ordinary for Tatum \u2014 even so soon after his return. He\u2019s savoring them anyway. Less than three months ago, Tatum was wondering whether he should sit out the season because the Celtics were playing so well without him. Among other steps in his rehab, he needed to rediscover his confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe day that it changed or became a real thought is when I got assigned to the G League and played, we had the scrimmage, and that was really the first time that it was like, \u2018Oh, I might come back this year,\u2019 \u201d Tatum said. \u201cAnd I think just periodically, just having really good days of rehab, that really boosted my confidence, whether it be how it felt, me hitting certain benchmarks two weeks earlier than I was supposed to, talking to my teammates after those scrimmages and get-ready games, just kind of asking them questions about how I looked. And the confidence that they instilled in me was impactful.\u201d<\/p>\n
That self-belief has only grown.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe built that through just a work ethic,\u201d Mazzulla said. \u201cHe built that through just knowing where he was and where he wanted to get to. I kind of go back to where he didn\u2019t distance himself (while being around the team) the whole time. I think we needed him. He needed us. We needed each other. We all need each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jaylen Brown (26 points) took a while to find his offensive rhythm Sunday. Queta spent much of the game in foul trouble. Derrick White and Payton Pritchard combined to score a relatively quiet 22 points. The Celtics still won each quarter in a dominant start to the playoffs.<\/p>\n
The Boston defense limited the talented backcourt of Maxey and V.J. Edgecombe to 34 combined points on 14-for-36 shooting. Overall, the 76ers shot 38.9 percent from the field while missing 19 of 23 3-point attempts.<\/p>\n
Brown called it \u201ca great tone-setter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt reflects our focus and our intensity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It also reflected Tatum\u2019s ability to meet one challenge after another. He said he is proud of what he has accomplished already.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were days where I wasn\u2019t even sure I was going to play this season, let alone get a chance to play today,\u201d Tatum said. \u201cSo I\u2019m openly just grateful that I\u2019m in this position.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other Celtics sound grateful, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere he\u2019s at now, I think he\u2019s continuing to get better and better,\u201d Mazzulla said. \u201cI think he\u2019s focused on the stuff that matters most \u2014 his health, continuing to get better, and giving the game what it needs on both ends of the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BOSTON \u2014 Jayson Tatum crouched down at midcourt, on top of the Boston Celtics logo, to watch the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":595324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[2242,355,99],"class_list":["post-595323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-boston-celtics","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595323","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=595323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/595324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=595323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=595323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}