Tatum’s return came in the starting lineup, as the Celtics’ returning star earned raucous cheers as he was introduced to the TD Garden crowd.
The noise grew louder and louder as the Celtics’ starters were introduced, and by the time the words “and from Duke,” came over the PA system, you could hardly hear a thing.
“I think it was a balance, it was really split down the middle. It was a surreal feeling, but then it just felt normal,” Tatum said. “So that was really promising for me, not just when the game started, but driving to the game, preparing, doing my pregame shoot. I knew it was a really big moment, but everything started to feel just really normal.”
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It wasn’t smooth sailing early for Tatum, who missed his first six shots — including a would-be dunk that got stuck on the rim — but as Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla noted pregame, the return was only the beginning.
“I think there’s a sense of gratitude and a sense of perspective,” Mazzulla said. “At the end of the day, you saw a guy in his most vulnerable state, and you’re seeing the journey back. And the journey might start today, but there’s no end to that — along the way you have to have a sense of gratitude, a sense of perspective, and you also have a sense of, like, let’s get back to work."
Besides, it didn’t take long for Tatum to start shaking off the rust. When the buckets finally came, they came in bunches, with Tatum throwing down a putback slam for his first points of the season with a minute to go before halftime, then drilling a step-back 3-pointer on the next possession to send the Garden into a frenzy.
“It helped me relax a lot,” Tatum said. “As a basketball player, when you take an extended period of time off, you’re anxious, you just want it really bad. Obviously I want to hit every shot I take, but I really was just grateful. I had a real sense of gratitude just being back on the floor, playing basketball again, just kind of brought me back to everything I’ve been through in the past 10 months. The fact that I was even able to be out there was a really big moment for me.”
Tatum made five shots in a row in a stretch that bridged the second and third quarters. By the time he checked out for the final time in the fourth, he was nearing a triple-double, eventually finishing with 15 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists in 27 minutes.
At least a few of the questions about how Tatum would re-integrate into the team were answered in a blowout win.
Mazzulla was a little more focused on his friend, who earned plenty of love throughout the night from the TD Garden crowd.
“Outside of basketball, it means a lot, just as a person and our relationship,” Mazzulla said. “When you are around someone and see them go through something, you want to see the fruits of that labor. It’s a credit to his work ethic and the people around him. . . . For me, personally, just grateful to be part of someone else’s story.”
Here’s how Tatum’s return to the floor unfolded.
‘I was really anxious’: Here’s what Tatum said after his debut
Jayson Tatum met with the media after making his season debut. Here’s what he had to say.
On what made him feel ready to return: “It’s a long process. It’s a lot that goes into it, physically, emotionally, and mentally. It’s the physical aspect, passing all the strength tests and things like that, the ramp up period, conditioning and doing contact stuff, heavy days, and then seeing how you feel the next day and respond and weeks of that. It’s a long journey, and it’s not just an easy decision to make. It’s a very serious thing that happened, and this was a huge step. I’ve still got a long way to go, but this was a really big step for me.”
On how he felt early in the game: “I just felt really anxious. It’s been a long time coming just to get to this point, and the nights and days I dreamed about this moment, the anticipation, the crowd. . . . It’s been 42 and a half weeks since I’ve played an NBA game, so just trying to get caught up on the speed and everything, I felt like I was a step off or moving too fast, but the game started to slow down as I just kind of relaxed a little bit.”
On people reaching out to him before the game: “I would just say a lot of people were praying for me and [sending] thoughtful text messages and reaching out when they found out I was going to return at some point this season, and maybe pretty soon. It’s a lot of people I’m thankful for, obviously, through these 10 months that have just been there and checked on me throughout the journey.”
On finally scoring his first points in the second quarter: “It helped me relax a lot. As a basketball player, when you take an extended period of time off, you’re anxious, you just want it really bad. Obviously I want to hit every shot I take, but I really was just grateful. I had a real sense of gratitude just being back on the floor, playing basketball again, just kind of brought me back to everything I’ve been through in the past 10 months. The fact that I was even able to be out there was a really big moment for me.”
On the team’s plan for his ramp-up, minutes restriction: “Yeah, we’ve got a plan. Obviously plans can change. It’s just kind of day-by-day.”
On his emotions after the injury and in the months since: “It was a range of emotions, a range of thoughts, in that moment. I wasn’t sure what the future was going to hold, because the start of last playoffs, we felt like we had a three-, four-, five-year run with that team to win as many championships as we could, and it all changed in that moment with that team, we had to trade guys and things like that. So it was a lot of uncertainty for me, I didn’t know what was next, there was a lot of doubt that crept in my mind at that time. Obviously the team is looking different, but can’t commend the group enough, and the coaching staff, for how they’ve attacked this season, 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.”
On the vulnerability of his recovery: “I don’t think any athlete ever thinks that they’re going to get hurt, at least that never crossed my mind. I felt like I did everything right, took care of my body, didn’t cheat the game; so when it happened, it knocked me on my ass. It just kind of made me rethink a lot of things, and I had an idea of how my career was gonna go, and in one night, it changed. And what I’ve realized is that we know many great athletes that have went through ups and downs in their careers, but it’s another thing to live it. Not to say that the things I want to accomplish are [not] still in front of me, but how you’re going to get there looks different for everybody. Obviously it’s been tough, I could talk about it all day, but I’m just happy to be here in this moment.”
On the role of friend, trainer Nick Sang in his recovery: “I mean, he has the biggest role. For the last 10 months, I haven’t went 48 hours without seeing Nick. He was there, obviously, when I got injured, and he’s been with me very step of the way. I’m very fortunate to have someone that’s as selfless and dedicated as he is. Obviously he’s one of my best friends, that’s a bonus, someone I know cares about me as a person, and is as invested in me as anyone. I’ve seen Nick work countless hours to research and call specialists and dot every I and cross every T to make sure we were doing the right things and didn’t skip any steps, hold me accountable every single day, push me when I didn’t necessarily want to be there or when I doubted myself. I can never say thank you enough to him. He’s been with me every single day since I got injured and is a big reason why I was able to recover as fast as I did and make it to this point, it was on him.”
15 points, 12 rebounds for Tatum
Tatum might be missing a little lift — he couldn’t quite get up for an alley-oop from Jaylen Brown — but he’s happy to shoot from outside, as Tatum’s third 3-pointer of the night drew another huge roar from the TD Garden crowd.
Tatum is up to 15 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists in his season debut. He played the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter before exiting to yet more cheers — that may do it for Tatum, who has played 27 minutes tonight.
A strong start to the second half
Tatum again checked in for roughly the first six minutes of the third quarter, and he seems to have shaken off any of those early nerves.
Tatum hit his first three shots of the quarter — making it five in a row after missing his first six — and dished out a couple more assists.
The highlight was a confident jab and pull-up jumper from the corner that gave Boston a 7-point lead and gave Tatum 12 on the night.
Tatum has nine rebounds and six assists to go along with his 12 points in 20 minutes thus far.
Tatum’s first points have the Garden rocking
Tatum’s first basket finally arrived late in the second quarter, and the lid suddenly came off the hoop.
Tatum threw down a big put-back dunk with just over a minute to play in the half, then drilled a step-back 3-pointer on the very next possession, drawing a huge roar from a crowd that’s waited nearly a year to see Tatum score on his home floor.
A slow start in Tatum’s return
Tatum missed his first six shots, including a would-be dunk that got stuck on the front of the rim.
As he did in the first quarter, Tatum played roughly the first six minutes of the second period before checking out. He exited the game with three rebounds and five assists, with Tatum’s first basket still eluding him.
No points, but a couple assists in Tatum’s first minutes
Tatum missed his first couple shots to open the game — including an airball from the top of the key — but he picked up a couple early assists on feeds to Neemias Queta and Jaylen Brown. He also snagged two rebounds and drew plenty of cheers every time he touched the ball.
Tatum played six minutes before checking out of the game to more applause.
