Celtics’ Jayson Tatum reveals how things fell into place during season debut

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Celtics’ Jayson Tatum reveals how things fell into place during season debut

Daniel Donabedian, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Sat, Mar 7, 2026 ·

5 min read

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BOSTON — Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum showed us the highs of his recovery from an Achilles rupture, posting clips of him walking again, dunking again, and smiling again. He was also transparent about the physical and mental toll this lengthy rehab process took on him, whether it was through discussing his internal doubt over if he should return or not or him displaying to the world how gruesome his ankle looked after surgery.

That authenticity and vulnerability continued on Friday night following Tatum's triumphant homecoming at TD Garden against the Dallas Mavericks .

"I just felt really anxious," Tatum revealed after his first game back in nearly 300 days. "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 of the crowd. It's been 42 and a half weeks since I played an NBA game."

While the six-time All-Star could've played it cool, he delivered genuine answers to the media and didn't deny his nerves.

"[I'm] just trying to get caught up on the speed and everything," he said. "I just kind of felt like I was a step off or moving too fast."

To start the game, Tatum failed to make his first six attempts from the field. A few shots fell short and one miss came when the 28-year-old couldn't convert on an open dunk that would've sent the home crowd into a frenzy:

Clearly, Tatum still needs some time to (literally and figuratively) get his legs under him. Shooting aside, the Celtics forward moved the ball well and posted a game-high five assists in the first half. Generating those points for his teammates helped him get involved and, in turn, things began to click.

"The game started to slow down as I just kind of relaxed a little bit," he said.

That's not an exaggeration, either, as Tatum made five shots in a row after missing his first six. He even rectified his botched dunk by slamming home a missed triple from point guard Payton Pritchard :

In the 120-100 win for the Celtics, Tatum finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists — just three assists shy of a triple-double in his first NBA action since re-learning how to walk. And while he didn't have a spotless offensive night, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla didn't care .

"When he was 100% healthy, he's missed six shots in a row before, so I don't think that really mattered," he said. "What I liked is just his approach and he continued to rebound. I thought he competed on the defensive end…I think he had three assists, two rebounds before he even took his first shot."

What Jayson Tatum's teammates and opponents thought of his return

Although Tatum isn't his usual self just yet, the Celtics were still ecstatic to see him out there, cheering him on from the bench and embracing him when he checked out of the game.

"I commend him being able to put himself on the line a little bit to come back and be a part of something bigger," Celtics star Jaylen Brown said in the locker room. "I think that is his mentality. I appreciate that. I know the organization appreciates that because he didn't have to and no one put pressure on him, but he wanted to be out there."

Would Tatum have loved going 100% from the field in his debut? Of course. But he understood why that wasn't realistic and emphasized how blessed he felt to simply suit up for the Green Team again.

"When you take an extended period of time off, you're anxious, you want it really bad," he said. "And, obviously, I wanted to hit every shot I took. But I was really just kind of grateful. I had a real sense of gratitude of just being back on the floor and playing basketball again, and it just kind of brought me back to everything I've been through in the last 10 months, and the fact that I was even able to be out there today was a really big win for me."

The next step in Tatum's recovery process, which isn't truly over, takes place on the road. The Celtics have three away games in a row versus some of the best teams in the league: the Cleveland Cavaliers , San Antonio Spurs , and the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder .

To call this a trial by fire may be putting it lightly. However, Tatum did already log 27 minutes against the Mavericks and wasn't babied at all despite his Achilles.

That should be a good sign for the Celtics, and a bad sign for the rest of the NBA .

"For him to come back at the speed that he did, in the way that he looked, he looked good coming off of a serious injury," Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd praised in his postgame press conference. "As he knocks off some rust, he makes the Celtics a contender and they were having a heck of a year while he was rehabbing, so to get him back, they're going to be a team that's going to be hard to knock out."

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