Jayson Tatum made his long awaited season debut Friday night in the Celtics 120-100 win over the Dallas Mavericks at a packed TD Garden.
It was 298 days of anticipation as the basketball world welcomed back Tatum from a torn Achilles tendon. The Celtics star was embraced with open arms by the roar of cheers from the home crowd that made it that much more emotional for Tatum after nearly 10 months of recovery.
"I just felt really anxious," Tatum admitted to reporters. "It's been a long time coming just to get to this point. Many nights and days, I dreamed about this moment and the anticipation, the crowd. It's been forty-two and a half weeks since I last played in an NBA game, so I'm just trying to get caught up in the speed and everything. I just kind of felt like I was a step off or moving too fast. But the game started to slow down as I relaxed a little bit."
The Celtics faithful was ready to burst with enthusiasm upon Tatum making his first basket, but the All-Star missed his first six attempts -- including a one-handed dunk that would have caused the Garden to erupt -- but Tatum's first points came on a offensive rebound and put-back dunk that was exactly what the home crowd was waiting over nine months for. He immediately followed that with a wide open left-hand corner 3-pointer like Tatum had never left.
"It was a surreal feeling, but then it felt normal," Tatum said. "So that was really promising for me, not even when the game started. Just driving to the game, starting my routine, doing my pregame shooting. I knew it was a big moment, but everything just started to feel really normal again."
Despite starting 0-of-6, Tatum finished with 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting, 12 rebounds and seven assists -- a near triple-double in a successful 27 minutes of action. Tatum opened up about how he was just grateful to be back playing basketball with his Celtics teammates again after a lengthy rehab process that at times didn't seem easy.
"Going through rehab and being injured is lonely -- and it's not intentional," Tatum shared. "I couldn't practice for a while. I couldn't be in the game. When they were on the court, I was in the weight room, having to do my own thing. So you feel isolated in a sense. I just expressed that being around as much as possible -- going to games, being on the plane -- really made me feel like I was still very much a part of the team."
Friday was a reminder of what Tatum brings to an already championship contending roster, who scored 120 points against the Mavs after being held to only 89 points in their loss to the Hornets Wednesday. Even when he wasn't scoring, Tatum made an impact in other ways, to which coach Joe Mazzulla immediately noticed.
"What I liked was his approach," Mazzulla said of Tatum's performance. "I think he had two assists, three rebounds before he even took his first shot. So I think the playmaking, but also a steady balance of the things of the process of what we need to do to win, and I thought he attacked that well tonight."
With a 23-point lead and five minutes left to play, Mazzulla pulled his starters -- giving Tatum a chance to take in a much earned standing ovation from the Garden fans, while also sharing a warm embrace in what was a perfect ending to a special night for the Celtics All-Star -- who had waited so long to finally be back playing basketball again.
"I was thankful to the coaches that extended their days a lot by helping me during rehab and on the court and pick-up games [for] my conditioning," Tatum said. "I really just kind of telling everybody in the room that they all played a part in essentially helping me get to this moment."
Jaylen Brown, who led all scorers with 24 points, to go along with seven rebounds, and seven assists, had some heartfelt words about how far he's seen Tatum come since sustaining the Achilles tear and his return to the parquet in front of the Celtics fans at home.
"It's good to see, not only my brother back out there, but more importantly, besides basketball, the mental aspect for those who have had injuries -- it definitely has an impact on your mental health," Brown said on his Twitch live stream. "So to see my boy smiling and seeing him out there having fun doing what he loves to do."
"I got to see, up close and personal, when he went down with the injury. Watching that look in his eyes of uncertainty -- for him to be back out there and smiling, that was a victory in itself. Shout out to Jayson Tatum, shout out to the medical facility for doing a great job. It's good to see, beyond anything else like wins and losses, just to see your brother back out there smiling and getting to do what he loves to do."
Tatum's return comes with the Celtics owning the second best record in the Eastern Conference at 42-21 and with 19 games remaining in the regular season, it's something he's proud to be a part of and credits his teammates and coaches for the success thus far with plenty more to go.
"Obviously, the team looks totally different than it did last year," Tatum said. "But I can’t commend the group enough and the coaching staff for how they've attacked this season, how they've competed and played together every single night. I don't know if there's a team that's been more fun to watch this season play as a unit."
The Celtics head out on the road for a quick three-game trip to face the Cavaliers, Spurs and Thunder before returning home a week from Saturday to host the Wizards.
Joel Pavón
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