When Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum returned to game action earlier this month after tearing his Achilles last May, the Celtics quickly became strong favorites to win the Eastern Conference and reach the NBA Finals. The feeling is that with their best player back, they will recapture the magic they had two years ago when they won it all.
In the eight games Tatum has played coming into Wednesday, the Celtics have gone 6-2, and they continue to hold onto the second spot in the East, albeit barely. But Tatum has had some trouble rediscovering his shooting touch, which is expected considering how long he was out due to his injury.
Co-star Jaylen Brown took part in a Tuesday livestream on Twitch, and he expressed his belief in Tatum and the entire team.
“I got full belief in Jayson Tatum,” Brown said. “I got full belief in our team. We just got to keep our connectivity and handle our adversity the right way. Everything isn’t always going to go your way in life. You got to remember that.”
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Tatum hasn’t looked like his old self since returning
Last year, as the defending world champions, the Celtics were considered the favorites to return to the NBA Finals, if not win the Larry O’Brien Trophy again. They went 61-21 in the regular season with Tatum and Brown doing their usual thing as the team’s star duo, and they were looking magnificent entering the second round of the playoffs.
But the New York Knicks spoiled their party by winning the first two games of the series in Boston as the Celtics threw up enough bricks from 3-point range to house every homeless man in the Northeast. They won Game 3 and had a shot at taking Game 4 as well, but Tatum tore his Achilles late in the game as they fell behind three games to one.
Boston lost the series in six games, but optimism has returned this month. However, Tatum has yet to find his game since returning. He’s averaging 19.1 points and 8.9 rebounds a game, but he’s shooting just 38.8% from the field and 29.3% from 3-point range.
That simply won’t cut it for Boston’s best player.
Boston needs a spry Tatum to win it all again
If Tatum starts consistently playing like his old self again, the East could be in trouble. But if he doesn’t, it could be the Celtics who will have issues come playoff time.
This isn’t the same team that cruised its way to the NBA championship two seasons ago. Two-way guard Jrue Holiday, one of the league’s best backcourt defenders in recent memory, departed last summer, as did big men Kristaps Porziņģis and Al Horford. In particular, Holiday was such a key and possibly the team’s final piece when he arrived just prior to the 2023-24 season.
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The Celtics have found younger gems such as guard Payton Pritchard and big man Neemias Queta, and they acquired center Nikola Vucevic prior to last month’s trade deadline. But while they remain an excellent defensive team, they don’t seem to have the type of individual defenders who make a difference in the playoffs.
If, or when, they face the Knicks again, All-Star guard Jalen Brunson, a noted playoff riser and big-game player, could have a field day against them. This is where Tatum will need to get back to his old self in order to offset any deficiencies his team may display on either end of the floor, especially since Boston doesn’t have the complementary scoring Holiday, Horford and Porzingis once supplied.
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