The Boston Celtics are off to a 3-1 start, and the latest win came with the kind of edge-of-your-seat finish that leaves a team both relieved and a little annoyed with itself. They edged the Brooklyn Nets 125-124 on the strength of another huge night from Jayson Tatum, who delivered 40 points, five rebounds and eight assists on 50.0% shooting in 42 minutes.
Tatum’s shot-making carried the Celtics through a game that went down to the final possession, but he wasn’t interested in dressing it up afterward. Even with the victory secured, he pointed to the rough patches, especially how Boston closed the fourth quarter.
“ It’s the first back-to-back of the year. We just talked about what team we want to be, and it was ugly.
We won, but we didn’t play our best,” said Tatum. “The way that we finished the fourth, we have to work on that.
But it’s hard to win in the NBA, so we’ll take it.”
The Celtics have had to rework things after losing Finals MVP Jaylen Brown this summer, and Tatum has been pushed into even more of the spotlight. For one night, that hardly looked like a problem.
He played with real authority, getting where he wanted on the floor and firing without hesitation. Paul George added 20 points, Derrick White had 16, and Boston’s balance was enough to hold off a Nets team that stayed alive until the end.
“We just gotta figure it out,” Tatum added. “It’s 82 games - it’s not always gonna be pretty, but can we stick with it, can we be resilient, can everybody chip in? Everybody played a part.”
The comeback story around Tatum is bigger than one box score. After suffering an Achilles tendon tear, there were doubts about whether he would get back to superstar form, and he admitted he had those same doubts during the grind of rehab. Now, 18 months out, he says the progress is showing up in little flashes.
“For me, results matter, but I’m 18 months out,” Tatum added. “It’s about progress and how I’m moving.
It’s little moments throughout the game where I do something, and it’s not even always with the ball, and I go, ‘Oooh, it’s coming back to me,’ and I start feeling like my old self. I feel really good about that.”
There’s still a long season ahead, and four games won’t define anything for Boston. But with Tatum looking more comfortable by the night, the Celtics have reason to believe they can make noise in the East. If the supporting cast keeps doing its part - with Paul George, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser all providing help in the early going - Boston’s start could turn into something much bigger, and maybe even reshape how people view the Brown trade.
In Other News...
Jayson Tatum Just Delivered A Celtics Reminder In Crunch Time
Jayson Tatum spent 42 minutes reminding everyone why the Celtics can still lean on him when a game turns chaotic, and Boston needed every bit of it in a 125-124 overtime win over the Nets. He was efficient, steady and all over the stat sheet, piling up 40 points on 50% shooting with eight assists, five rebounds and a block while keeping his turnover count at zero.
The performance also pushed Tatum deeper into the Celtics record book, where he added more franchise marks tied to scoring, playmaking and efficiency. Paul George, meanwhile, also left his mark by setting a Celtics record for steals per game, but the lasting image from this one was Tatum taking control when the game was hanging in the balance. [Read more 🡒]
Mitchell Robinson Sparks Tense Celtics Flashpoint In Tight Nets Battle
A tense moment briefly overtook TD Garden in the first half when Celtics center Mitchell Robinson got into a verbal exchange that pulled players and coaches toward the Nets bench. The back-and-forth gave an otherwise tight game a jolt, and Robinson was already having a solid first-half impact with seven points and three rebounds by halftime.
The incident also came with a technical foul for Robinson, adding another layer to a game that already had a competitive edge to it. Boston carried an 86-82 lead into the fourth quarter, with the kind of playoff-style friction that can linger as the game gets late. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Have A Payton Pritchard Debate That Could Grow Fast
Payton Pritchard has settled into the kind of role that has become valuable to the Celtics in recent years, coming off the bench as a spark and helping drive the offense in the minutes that often decide games. He was a key part of Bostons 2024 title run, then followed that by winning Sixth Man of the Year the next season, which only sharpened the conversation around how much the Celtics should be using him.
Joe Mazzulla appears content to keep Pritchard in that sixth-man lane, with Jordan Walsh getting the start instead, but the debate is starting to bubble up for a reason. When the Celtics are short-handed, there is a clear case for giving Pritchard more runway with the first group, and his shot creation has become too important to treat as a luxury no matter where he enters the game. [Read more 🡒]