Jayson Tatum looked mortal for a few minutes on Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks, but then it was right back to regularly scheduled programming for the six-time All-Star and NBA champion, who made his first appearance on an NBA floor in 288 days.
Tatum started the game 0-for-6 from the field but was contributing on the glass and getting his teammates involved. He then proceeded to hit all five of his next five shots at the end of the first half and at the start of the second, starting with a putback, two-handed dunk that set the TD Garden on fire. Moments later, Tatum swished a three from the corner, sending the Garden into another frenzy.
Tatum ended up tallying 15 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists on the night, less than 10 months removed from rupturing his Achilles tendon.
It was an astounding symbol of resilience, work ethic, passion, and modern sports medicine that Tatum looked as good as he did on Friday night.
The brilliant news for the [Celtics](https://nesn.com/boston-celtics) -- and the scary news for the rest of the NBA -- is that Tatum is probably only going to improve from here on out in 2025-26.
After handling the Mavs, the Celtics are now 42-21, holding down their spot as the No. 2 seed in the East. They now have 19 more games to see Tatum work himself into even better shape before the postseason, and he's starting from a place that is way ahead of expectations.
Next up for the C's is a road game on Sunday against the Cleveland Cavaliers at 1 p.m. ET.
**_More NBA:_** [**_Bill Simmons Shares Unexpected Baylor Scheierman-Jayson Tatum Theory_**](https://nesn.com/boston-celtics/news/bill-simmons-shares-unexpected-baylor-scheierman-jayson-tatum-theory/afd90546daf62ef142cf518f)