Preseason lessons learned – Yahoo Sports

The preseason is over for the Celtics so here are ten things that we learned about the 2026-27 Celtics in the preseason.

1. Jayson Tatum is all the way back

The return of Jayson Tatum was a success. The end was disappointing but for him to look as good as he did that early off of the torn Achilles was a big deal for him and the Celtics.

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This year is about getting back to peak Jayson Tatum and the preseason was an awesome start.

Tatum averaged 21.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game on 48% from the field and 39% from three in 28 minutes per game in the two games he played in.

His two man game with Mitchell Robinson was one of the things that jumped off the page to me.

Tatum was also scoring in all his typical ways, he has gotten really good at splitting the defense on pick and rolls and getting to the rim for a layup or dunk. His three point shot was very good, his defense was top notch, he was rebounding the ball, he was passing it well. He was doing all the things that he does when he is at his best,

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Jayson Tatum is rounding into form and looks like he is ready to get back to All-NBA first team Jayson Tatum again and that is one of the reasons the Celtics ceiling could be really high.

One note I do have is that J.T. does need to get to the line more, one free throw over two games isn’t nearly enough. He can very easily increase his scoring by just getting fouled more.

2. Offensive rebounding is going to be a massive advantage

I wrote about this last week but the Celtics are going to dominate the offensive boards.

In their 4 preseason games, the Celtics had an offensive rebounding rate of 38.2%, which was the best in the preseason.

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Dominating the margins is something that Joe Mazzulla talks a lot about and one of those margins is the offensive glass as he wants to create extra possessions.

Mitchell Robinson will play a big part in this. His is the best offensive rebounder in the NBA and on a team that is already really good at that, Robinson will fit right in. He was 2nd on the team for offensive rebounding in the preseason, Luka Garza lead Boston in that…

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Publish date : 2026-10-18 11:00:00

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