The Boston Celtics have done much more than just tread water this season while waiting for Jayson Tatum’s return. They played well enough to be sitting pretty at second in the East. To be exact, they were 41-21 before Tatum’s season debut on March 6.
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Tatum had some early rust in his first game, and his shooting numbers have been mediocre. But Celtics fans have to be encouraged by how he has been able to jump in and play almost 30 minutes a game, banishing all memories of the Achilles injury.
Coming into Sunday night’s game against the Timberwolves, the Celtics were 6-2 since Tatum’s return. The only losses were on the road to the Spurs and Thunder, the league’s two best teams. That too by just a combined 11 points. That’s pretty encouraging. Just that Minnesota spoiled that feel-good factor for the Celtics fans.
Despite not having Anthony Edwards in the lineup, the Timberwolves were able to come into a hostile environment and leave with a 102-92 win. Tracy McGrady said after the game on NBA Showtime that he’s worried by what he saw.
“I don’t want to say it seems out of whack,” said McGrady. “But their shooting has gone down since he’s been there. So it’s really like, ‘Guys, what are we doing here? Are we running the same stuff that we ran before? Are we still on the same page? Or are we divided because we’re not playing our same game?'”
McGrady explained that reintegrating a player like Tatum into a so far successful lineup would have taken a toll. However, there’s no reason to push the panic button yet.
The Celtics are 6-3 with their All-Star forward back in the lineup, which is right in line with their winning percentage before he returned. And it’s not like they haven’t beaten good teams. With Tatum, they’ve won in Cleveland and beaten the Suns at home.
Nobody could have expected the Celtics to immediately be firing on all cylinders when Tatum got back. This is a team that has shown tremendous chemistry throughout the season. And any time that balance gets tweaked, regardless of who has come in, there’s an adjustment period.
Tatum is an additive player who rebounds, defends, and makes the Celtics a much more difficult offense to stop. It hasn’t been a perfectly smooth transition to bring him back, but there’s still time to figure everything out. And if they do, the Celtics will go from an overachieving underdog to a bona fide title contender.
Boston still has a slight edge on the Knicks for second in the East. With each passing game, Tatum gets into better playing shape. And the upcoming schedule will give the Celtics a great opportunity to show what they can do.
They get two days of rest before hosting the defending champions on Wednesday night. Then they face a red-hot Hawks team at home before taking on the resurgent Hornets and the Hawks again on the road.
There’s a pretty solid chance that Boston could end up against either the Hawks or the Hornets in the first round of the playoffs. So these games will be a great test to see where they stand, especially given how well both teams have played lately.
A clash with the Knicks on April 9 could decide the 2-seed in the East, and which team gets home-court advantage for a potential second-round matchup.
