Jayson Tatum has played just three games for the Boston Celtics since returning from his Achilles injury, but he already looks pretty good. Through those three games, he's averaging 19.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 27 minutes per game -- not far off his career averages.
His shooting's been shaky, however. He's made only 39.3% of his field goals and 29% of his 3-pointers, both of which would be career lows.
Fortunately, Tatum still has about a month to shake off that rust before the NBA Playoffs start. However, the Celtics will likely need him to be playing more like himself by then if they want to win a championship.
"If he can get his shooting rhythm into the playoffs, they have a chance to win the championship," Gilbert Arenas said on Wednesday's episode of his "Gil's Arena" podcast. "At this point, you gotta Bam him. If you've got games where you're winning by a lot, force feed him, let him get his motion back, because you're gonna need him to be dominant in games in the playoffs."
"If they (Celtics) want to win a championship, he has to be playing like Tatum. He can't be no 3rd or 4th option or they aren't winning a championship".@NoChillGilZero thinks the Celtics will need to eventually start ramping up Tatum's minutes as they head into the postseason. pic.twitter.com/bR7VmcMQdC
— Gil’s Arena (@GilsArenaShow) March 11, 2026
Tatum has increased his scoring in all three games so far from 15 points to 20 to 24, so he's trending in the right direction. He still needs to assert himself more on offense, however, which should be easier once he feels more confident in his shooting.
In other words, Boston needs him to be Tatum by playoff time.
"If they want to win a championship, he has to be playing like Tatum. He can't be no third or fourth option or they aren't winning a championship," Arenas added. "If he's playing like Tatum and he can get his timing back by the time the playoffs start and they're getting into it, they're gonna need that guy to be that guy in the playoffs."
Tatum's off to a pretty good start, all things considered, so the Celtics are hopeful he'll be able to ramp up over the next month and get back into the swing of things by the time the postseason kicks off.
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