The Celtics need Jayson Tatum to be Jayson Tatum

We all remember May 12th, 2025 when Jayson Tatum fell to the floor in Game 4 of Round 2 against the New York Knicks. To that point, it had been one of the been one of the best games Tatum had played in his career with 42 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks.

The 2024-25 version of Jayson Tatum is the best Tatum we have seen in his career. He had become the best scorer, passer and rebounder on the Celtics and was playing as well as any player in the league.

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That is the Jayson Tatum the Celtics are betting on getting this year, the Jayson Tatum they need this year.

Tatum’s return from his Achilles tear was an overwhelming success. Sure, the end was disappointing with the blown 3-1 and him sitting out Game 7 but for Tatum to look as good as he did coming off of that major an injury under a year after it happened shows that Jayson Tatum is ready to reach the levels he once did.

Tatum’s play improved as the season went along and his numbers were vastly better in the playoffs than the regular season. His points, rebounds, assists and shooting percentages were all up in the first round series against the 76ers than they were in the 16 regular season games he played.

He got stronger as his return to the court went along and he really started to find himself before a knee issue held him out of Game 7.

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I do think him missing Game 7 is notable, he was recovering from a major injury which likely lead to the new injury. That is something that should be addressed but I am not worried about it entering this year.

The subtraction of Jaylen Brown means that Tatum is the guy in Boston. There no more Jays and no more duo, this is the Jayson Tatum and friends show. His ‘friends’ are very good but that doesn’t matter if Tatum doesn’t preform to his highest capabilities.

His tools are very important to this team.

Tatum’s rebounding has reached a level where it isn’t underrated anymore. Everyone knows that Jayson Tatum is awesome on the glass. He was awesome on the glass in his return averaging 10.0 rebounds per game in the 16 regular season games he played and 10.7 in the six playoff games. The…

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Publish date : 2026-09-17 10:00:00

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