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BOSTON, MA - MARCH 22: Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics tries to get untangled from Jaden McDaniels #3 of the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second half at TD Garden on March 22, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
The Boston Celtics have had Jayson Tatum back in the lineup for a couple of weeks. He has struggled to shoot the ball efficiently so far, but he is still getting his rhythm back. After almost a full year away, he has some rust to knock off.
Tatum has worked extremely hard to return this season. He made it known early on that it was his goal to be healthy enough to play this season. Tatum finally had his first 5-on-5 scrimmage at the beginning of the month with Boston’s G-League team.
Celtics rookie Hugo Gonzalez was a part of that scrimmage. He recently talked about how good Tatum looked right away.
Celtics Rookie Was Impressed With Jayson Tatum During Scrimmage
While speaking to the media, Gonzalez said he was blown away by what he saw from Tatum in that first scrimmage.
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Hugo González on playing with Tatum for the first time: “He was looking great. He was looking amazing. We all knew he was gonna come back at a super great level … At that practice, I don’t know if he made 30 points. I’m sure he did. I was lucky he was on my team.” @CLNSMedia
“I did a couple of scrimmages with him, but it was great. He was looking great. He was looking amazing. We all knew that he was going to come back at a super great level, even though he is still catching his rhythm and everything. But he was amazing. In that practice, I don’t know if he made 30 points. I’m sure he did. I was lucky I was on his team, so we won the game.”
Gonzalez had a front row seat to Tatum’s final step in his rehab. He believed that Tatum was going to come back and immediately help the team. Right now, Tatum is taking a lot of jump shots instead of driving to the rim. That’s all part of his comeback.
Tatum is shooting under 40 percent from the field and just barely over 30 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. As he gets more games under his belt, he should knock off more rust. Boston wants him to be able to knock that rust off before the playoffs start.
Boston Might not Need a Fully Healthy Jayson Tatum to Win a Title
Tatum is certainly healthy enough to play, but he’s not fully basketball healthy. He still needs to get his wind under him and get his rhythm back. Boston might be good enough to win the championship without Tatum playing at his full level.
Right now, the Celtics have the second-best offense in the league. Most of that is because of how good Jaylen Brown has been. He is playing at an MVP level, and has proven that he can be a number-one option on a really good team.
There is still no favorite to win the Eastern Conference, even this late in the season. Boston sits second in the Eastern Conference standings. It’s unlikely they will be able to catch the Pistons for the top spot, but they could still fall to the third spot. The Knicks are very close to them.
Boston doesn’t care if they are second or third. Allowing Tatum to play better every game while Brown does the heavy lifting is what they are looking forward to in the postseason.