Jayson Tatum got the kind of moment that tells everybody the same thing: he’s back.
The Celtics star helped Boston beat the 76ers on Tuesday with 21 points, but the play people will remember came when he rose up and threw down a poster dunk over Philadelphia star LeBron James. For Tatum, it was more than just a flashy finish. After being sidelined for a long stretch with a ruptured Achilles tendon, it was a hard-edged reminder that he can still explode at the rim.
That kind of dunk carries extra weight for Tatum. It brought back shades of the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals, when his poster dunk against the Cleveland Cavaliers announced him as a future star. Eight years later, he’s already established himself as one of the league’s best players, but the road back from the Achilles injury made this one feel different.
Tatum has been playing well since returning late in the 2025-26 season, but the big athletic highlight had been missing until Tuesday. After the game, he explained what the moment meant to him.
"It just kind of felt good to finish through contact. It's been about 19 months since I dunked on somebody. Just to kind of get my legs back, feeling good, it's a basketball play,"
For Boston, and for the league, seeing Tatum attack the rim like that is a welcome sign. If this is the kind of burst he’s bringing back, it could end up being the play that helps define his season.
In Other News...
Joel Embiid Just Gave The Sixers Another Brutal Health Scare
Joel Embiid gave the 76ers another tense moment in their game against the Celtics when he took a hard fall and limped to the locker room before halftime. He did come back for the second half, which was the immediate relief Philadelphia needed, but the scene was a reminder of how fragile the margin is around its franchise center.
Embiid has already been working through plantar fasciitis and recently tweaked his ankle, so any new stumble naturally sets off alarms for a team with limited depth behind him at center. His status is expected to be day-to-day, but for the Sixers, the bigger concern is how often they can keep absorbing these scares without it turning into something more serious. [Read more 🡒]
Joel Embiid Is Back In A Debate Sixers Fans Dread
Joel Embiid gave the Sixers another uneasy reminder of how quickly a game can turn tense when he went down awkwardly against the Celtics and appeared to tweak his ankle before heading off the floor at halftime. He did return for the second half and even knocked down a three-pointer, but the sequence was enough to put Philadelphia back in the familiar position of monitoring every stumble, grimace and slow walk from its franchise center.
Bill Simmons added another layer to the conversation by criticizing Embiids reactions to injuries, a familiar and frustrating topic for a fan base that has heard plenty of outside commentary about its star. For the Sixers, the concern is less about the debate itself than the bigger picture around Embiids availability and how every minor scare seems to reopen the same conversation all over again. [Read more 🡒]
Sixers Face A Big Thursday Question With Two Stars Uncertain
Thursdays injury report has put a familiar kind of uncertainty around the Sixers home game against Toronto, with Joel Embiid listed as questionable because of foot management. The matchup already carries the usual early-season interest, but availability is once again the first storyline for Philadelphia, which is trying to sort out its rotation while managing key bodies carefully.
LeBron James is also on the questionable list because of back management, adding another layer to the nights uncertainty even before tipoff. The Sixers will also be without Adem Bona, who is sidelined by a cervical spine sprain, and Dominick Barlow, who is out with a back injury, while Toronto remains shorthanded too with Kawhi Leonard ruled out for at least another week because of knee issues. [Read more 🡒]