REVEALED: Boston Celtics FANS Celebrate Jayson Tatum Comeback—Eastern Conference in TURMOIL?

Boston Celtics surge as Jayson Tatum makes his triumphant return from a torn Achilles. With Tatum back on the court, the second-place Celtics eye a playoff push—can their chemistry and depth deliver another championship run?

Gabby (Hurlbut) Maljanian spotlights Jaylen Brown’s MVP-caliber impact, Joe Mazzulla’s Coach of the Year-worthy leadership, and the seamless transitions of Peyton Pritchard and Neemias Queta. Key topics include Tatum’s recovery, shifting offensive strategies, roster moves involving Nikola Vucevic and Anfernee Simons, and the Celtics’ revamped rotation. The conversation breaks down stats from Tatum’s first games, Eastern Conference rivals like the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks, and the roles of Derrick White, Hugo Gonzalez, and Jordan Walsh. Is Boston’s depth the key to conquering both East and West contenders?

Catch the latest insights on the Boston Celtics’ path to postseason glory and what Tatum’s return means for their championship aspirations.

Transcript

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Jason Tatum is back for the Boston Celtics, and it feels oh so good. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Boston Balling, your home for all things Boston sports. I'm your host, Gabby Maljanian, currently the host of this show, as well as the daily Locked On Red Sox podcast for the Locked On Podcast Network. So if you are looking for daily Red Sox content, be sure to check me out over there. But on this show, I talk about all things going on in the Boston sports scene. And to say that being a Boston fan hasn't been the most fun of any fan in the 2000s would be a complete lie because we have seen so much success and so many championships, especially between the Red Sox and Patriots, as of late, that it's just so hard to deny that Boston is the best sports city. It truly is. And when you think about players who have played in Boston and true faces of Boston sports, there are a lot of legends who have come through, like Tom Brady, David Ortiz, guys from the 2000s, who you could say are faces of Boston sports. But Jason Tatum, who's currently playing for the Boston Celtics, is definitely a guy who truly could be the face of Boston sports at this moment and probably will be one of the many faces of Boston sports for years to come, even after he retires, a guy who people associate with Boston. And I don't just mean they have to necessarily be the best player in the league at their sport. I just mean a guy who, when people think of Boston sports, they automatically think of those players. People automatically think of Tom Brady. They automatically think of David Ortiz. And in this case, Jason Tatum goes along in that category as a guy who's forever going to be associated with the Boston Celtics. And so going into this NBA season, there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Boston Celtics, whether they were going to be a successful team this year, whether they were going to be a rebuilding team, because of the fact that Jason Tatum was missing significant time due to tearing his Achilles last May. And there was a lot of great updates going on in regards to Tatum's recovery and a potential timeline for him coming back. And throughout the course of the last nine and a half months or so, there were videos of him talking about his recovery and showing the process of the recovery. And the Celtics never officially ruled out him not coming back this year. And that was what I always found intriguing about the situation was typically when a player tears their Achilles, they miss the entirety of the next season. So there was the assumption that Jason Tatum was going to miss the entirety of this season and wouldn't be back until next year. But then that ended up not being the case. His recovery got expedited, and then he went on record and said, you know, just taking it day by day. I don't know if it's the best idea for me to come back. I don't want to break the chemistry that this team already has right now. So there was still a lot of uncertainty, even all the way up until the day before he officially came back when his status became questionable instead of out, because all season long, every game he was on the injury report listed as out. And then there was that sudden change of him being listed as questionable. And everyone was like, wow, oh my gosh, like Jason Tatum's coming back. And there was this big excitement on social media about him coming back. But prior to him coming back, the Celtics were what they were. And a lot of people looked at that roster and said, there's no way this team is going to be able to be a contending team without Jason Tatum. And sure enough, they ended up proving the complete opposite. They are currently in second place in the Eastern Conference behind the Pistons, who are 46 and 18. The Celtics stand at 43 and 22, just three and a half games behind them, with the Knicks currently in third place at 42 and 25, five and a half games out of first place, and then two games behind the Celtics. So people who thought that the Celtics wouldn't contend were dead wrong. And I wasn't necessarily somebody who felt like they were going to be a really bad team and that there was no way they were going to be a playoff team in the East. But I certainly did not think that they would be where they're at now. I thought that maybe they could be a wild card team that maybe like sneaks in towards the end, but I did not for sure think they would be one of the top teams in the East at this point. And there's a lot of credit that's owed to Joe Mazzo and Jalen Brown. Joe Mazzula no doubt should win Coach of the Year for the way that he was able to navigate this Tatumless roster. The guy who's the heart and soul of the team, the guy that they have continued to build their team around, and the guy who the offense basically was acclimated to. And now he goes down with his injury, and now they go into this season, and Joe Mazzula is forced to change up the offensive strategy and change up the rotations and change up what this team is doing to make it still work. And the fact that he's been able to coach this team to being second place in the Eastern Conference right now cannot be ignored and no doubt should make him coach of the year. Because if he's not coach of the year, then who is with all these people that doubted the Celtics? And on one hand, you could say, yeah, the Celtics just had so much talent. So anybody could coach that. Okay, I don't see that as a valid argument really, because if you thought that the Celtics already had enough talent to where anybody could coach that team, then why were you saying before the season started that there was no way the Celtics were going to be competitive this year? So there's kind of a double-edged sword there. Because if you do make that argument about, well, the Celtics at the end of the day are still really talented, then it doesn't make sense that you would have said they wouldn't contend. So if you thought they wouldn't contend this season without Jason Tatum, then the work that Joe Mazzo has been putting in is even greater because not only are they in contention right now, but they are a huge favorite to be a team that can go all the way. And while they were second place in the Eastern Conference before Jason Tatum came back, now with him back, this increases their chances even more of being a team in the Eastern Conference that can contend for a title. And if I were another team or a fan of another team, especially in the East, I would not want to face this Boston Celtics team now. This is a team that's full of chemistry. These guys have figured out how to work together, and they have put together a season that a lot of people are surprised about. And Joe Mazzoula for sure takes a lot of credit for that. But also Jalen Brown, who's in the MVP conversation and to me, should have by now solidified his case for being MVP. I don't think they'll give it to him. But when I think of the word valuable, who's the most valuable to their team? You look at the pacers and the difference between that team with Tyrese Halliburton and without Tyrese Halliburton. It's very clear that they actually need him because that is a completely different team right now without him. So if you think of the word valuable, I could throw Tyrese Halliburton in the conversation as a player who's most valuable to their specific team. This Celtics team without Jalen Brown would definitely not be the team that they are now. They just wouldn't be. This would not be a team that's nearly as competitive as it is right now if it weren't for Jalen Brown repeatedly putting up 30-plus point nights, averaging a good amount of rebounds and assists and making a difference both on offense and on defense, on the boards, on the inside, taking shots, being aggressive, and limiting the turnovers, because Jalen Brown in particular has had a big turnover problem before, but he's been able to limit that this season for the Boston Celtics. And if I'm the Celtics, I'm really excited about that because obviously he has been able to take care of the ball a lot more this year. And that goes back to the Joe Mazzo thing, too, is that because of the fact that Jalen has been playing so well, it has made it easier for him to be able to design the offense around JB. Because going into the season, it was a lot easier to say, well, yeah, obviously JB's going to be the center of the offense without Tatum. Sure. But how exactly do we execute that when we're used to Jason Tatum also being there? How do we execute a scenario in which this offense is comfortable with Jalen Brown being at the heart of it? And guys like Derek White, Peyton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, who are used to playing extensively with both Tatum and Brown, understand Jalen Brown's playing style and were able to complement him and able to adapt to that play style. So there were a lot of uncertainties prior to Jason Tatum coming back about how the Celtics team was going to be able to navigate that, but they have been doing that a lot more seamlessly than people think. And they give the MVP award a lot of times to who they feel was the best player in the league that season. But to me, it doesn't always have to be. Yes, they are valuable, they are very valuable to the league because the league gets elevated by that player and the team they're on obviously also gets elevated if they have the best player on their team. But to me, when you think of most valuable, it's the player that made the most impact on their team. And Jalen Brown, to me, makes the most impact on the Celtics because of the fact that people did not think this team would be anywhere close to where they're supposed to be. You look at the best player on other contending teams, and it's like, yeah, sure, of course, that player is so valuable. And this team may not be where they are without him. But the teams that have a lot of talent around their star player, you could argue that they would probably still be a good team in contending. And that's no disrespect to them. It's just more the season that Jalen Brown's having, he's literally putting his team on his back. And this team would not be what it is at all right now without Jalen Brown. So to me, he is the MVP, no doubt about it. And it's really exciting to think about this team's potential now that Jason Tatum has come back. And I still watch these games in disbelief at the fact that Jason Tatum's actually playing. I mean, I cried when they introduced him for that first home game when he came back. And I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. And I was like, wow, Jason Tatum's actually here. I truly had it in my head that he was not going to be playing for this team at all this season. And mentally, I think in his head too, he was like, Well, I don't want to come back and risk ruining the great thing they have going right now. So therefore, maybe even if I get medically cleared to play, I shouldn't because I don't want to risk being the one to throw off what's working for my team right now. And I commend him for that. It takes a lot when you're that hungry to get back on the court to put your team first. And that is another example of Jason Tatum just being such a selfless player who puts the team before himself. Because for a guy like that who missed an extended period of time with an injury, knows that he could be making a historic comeback and knows that the time frame of when he returns after an Achilles tier is unheard of. Most guys in that situation would truly embrace that and be like, yeah, let's move this along so that I can get back on the court. But Tatum said, you know, obviously I really want to get back on the court. If everything's all good, I definitely will. But I want to make sure that my team, I'm doing what's best for them because they're the ones who have been out there all season. They're the ones who have been producing these results. They're the ones who are making us second in the East right now and in serious contention to win another championship. So I don't want to go and take the spotlight off of them and take the chemistry away from them that they have established. I respect that a lot. And there might be people who don't respect that and might say, well, he's pretty selfish if he doesn't come back because his team really needs him down the stretch. Okay, but there are several different factors to that. First of all, you need to get 100% medically cleared. And he was talking about all this before he got medically cleared 100%. For two, the team that you're playing on needs to be able to re-acclimate you back into the swing of things, and you don't want to be the reason that your team misses the playoffs or doesn't make a deep run because they have to re-acclimate themselves. So it's a lot to expect a player to go out there and just try to please everybody because that's just not going to happen. But I really do respect the fact that Tatum was thinking of his team first. And the team reiterated how anxious they were to get Jason Tatum back and how they just could not wait for him to be back on the court playing with them. And now that is exactly what's happening. And he could not have gotten a better welcome back to the Boston Celtics. I mean, the screams, the cheers coming from the crowd at his return was unforgettable to experience. I mean, everybody was just so excited to see Jason Tatum and to have him back out there. And that's what it's all about, really. And fans have been waiting for so long because obviously when they got eliminated from the playoffs, that was the biggest storyline was well, yeah, it sucks that we got eliminated, but when's Jason Tatum coming back? Like, if do we have to go a whole season without him? So to be rewarded by that patience with Tatum returning a lot earlier than people with that injury typically do is truly a reward for all of the fans for not giving up on the team, letting them get themselves established early on, despite that not being with Jason Tatum and being able to continue to play at a high level. There's just a lot of wins to go around right now. And Jason Tatum gets to be part of those wins. And now it's really exciting to see him back on the court helping his team, alongside hopefully the coach of the year and hopefully the MVP, and being ready to take this Boston Celtics team all the way after how much he went through this year. That's such a special feeling. And I'm so excited to see how that all plays out. But coming back, I'm gonna be talking about what Jason Tatum has done to make an impact so far in his return. But don't forget to subscribe to Boston Bowling on any podcast platform, including YouTube, so that you get the latest happenings in all things Boston sports. I bring cool guests on along the way. So you definitely won't want to miss that. But make sure that you're checking it out wherever you get your podcast. And if you also want daily Boston Red Sox talk, check out Locked On Red Sox because I am also there Monday through Friday on any podcast platform discussing the Boston Red Sox and all things going on with them. So if you want that in particular, make sure you subscribe to that too. You can also follow me on social media at Gabby Maljanian on Twitter, at Gabby underscore Maljanian10 on Instagram. And you can follow this show on Twitter at Boston Balling and locked on Red Sox at L-O underscore Red Sox. So if you want to stay fully equipped with everything, make sure you follow me there and subscribe to the show. Jason Tatum has officially returned for the Boston Celtics, and it is such an exciting time to be a Celtics fan because now it's March. So now there's only a month or so left of the regular season until the playoffs start. So this last month is going to be crazy. There's going to be lots of teams vying for playoff spots that haven't secured a spot yet. There's going to be teams vying for seating because the more series that you can get at home, the better off you are. And so for the Boston Celtics, their challenge is going to be trying to catch up to the Pistons in the Eastern Conference. And even if they don't, they're still in a very good spot come the postseason. But this is the perfect time down the stretch to where Jason Tatum can continue to re-acclimate himself to this team. Because when you first come back, it takes a bit. You're playing a little bit conservatively. You're trying to figure out how you exactly fit in. And your team is also trying to figure out how exactly you fit in. So with Jason Tatum now, that's the stage that he's at. I've noticed that he has been playing with a little bit of hesitancy as opposed to the aggressiveness that he normally plays with. And that is normal when you first return from an injury. If you're that guy who's been removed from the game for a while and your team has something good going and you don't want to be the guy to break that, that does sometimes tend to happen. And that's what I've noticed with Tatum, but I am really excited about how he continues to reacclimate himself because he's definitely in his head, like, I don't want to get hurt again. So naturally, when you're thinking about that, you're going to play more conservatively too, of physically taking care of your own health. So I can tell he's a little bit hesitant out there, but he definitely has made a difference in his time since returning. So he's played three games since coming back on March 6th from that tournament Killes tendon, which were against Dallas, Cleveland, and San Antonio. He's averaged 19.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 27 minutes per game. His field goal percentage is 39.3%. He's 22 of 56 from the field, 29.0%, three-point percentage, nine of 31% there, and 85.7% free throw percentage, six of seven there, which is pretty solid. So on March 10th against the Spurs, which was the Celtics' most recent game, he scored 24 points with five rebounds, two assists, and two steals with a 41.7% field goal percentage. March 8th against the Cavs on the road, 20 points, three rebounds, two assists, and a 37.5% field goal percentage. In the day that he returned on March 6th versus the Mavs, he scored 15 points with 12 rebounds, seven assists and one steal with a 37.5% field goal percentage. So his contributions keep increasing and increasing. He killed it on the board that day in his return against the Mavs. I mean, that was a great performance from him down low. And he's continued to score more and more points gradually over the time of his return. And I'm sure that's the way things are going to go moving forward, too, as the Celtics continue to re-acclimate him. He's currently working to improve his shooting efficiency as he's trying to get his field goal percentage over 40%. And he's definitely trying to get back to game speed because he's a high volume, low efficiency starter right now. And that's something that he wants to change. Despite the lower efficiency, though, he has helped the Celtics win two of his three games back, contributing to a plus 5.3 plus and minus over that period. So he is providing positive net value for his team, even if his numbers aren't eye-popping and don't pop off the page. So there's no circumstance in which we can say Jason Tatum returning is bad for the Boston Celtics. It's really good for the Boston Celtics. This is a guy who's the team leader. And there was also a lot of media coverage that was completely overblown by saying that Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown have some kind of tension and that Jalen isn't going to be happy about Tatum returning. And they both in the past have publicly said that that's not true. And you know, the media sometimes can stir the pot a little bit. But these two have a great relationship. And when they're on the court together, if there's off the court issues going on, that would be news to me because you really cannot tell. And that's not at all the impression that I get when they are on the court together. So it can't be overstated enough how important to this team Jason Tatum is. And there are a lot of people saying, well, they don't really need Tatum because Jalen Brown is able to carry this team without him. So they don't really need him as much as people think they do. That's also not the case. When this team is at its best, they have both of them. And we really have seen it in action. I mean, their 2024 championship season and just the amount of time that they have been playing in the league together, they work really well together and they've established this chemistry. And you want them both out there because, yes, right now they're having a really good regular season, and Jalen Brown has truly been a good doing a good job of really carrying this team and fueling this team to success. But when it really comes down to it at the end of the day, when you're going into the postseason and you're facing the best teams that the league has to offer, you want your best roster out there. And you are not putting your best roster out there without Jason Tatum. I mean, let's just face it, this is a talented Celtics team, and that's why they've been able to win all these games. And they have depth, which is something that's really helped them a lot. So that does make a difference. But if you're maximizing the talent on the roster, that means You're putting Jason Tatum out there because he just makes so much of a difference on so many aspects and levels of his game that it's just so difficult and basically impossible to sit here and say, yeah, the Celtics are better off without him. They're just not. And so going into the playoffs, there are definitely teams that are going to be tough. I mean, the Pistons, the Knicks, the Cavs. I mean, you name it. The Eastern Conference is tough, but not as tough as the Western Conference. The Western Conference definitely has some really good teams. The Thunder, the Spurs, I mean, you name it. The Mavs are never an easy out. I mean, can't forget about other teams like the Warriors, the Lakers, teams that somehow always are in the mix, too. So there are a lot of teams that are worth discussing and teams that are going to be dangerous. I mean, the Rockets, I'm not sleeping on them. The Hornets, I mean, talk about the resurgence of them. The Hornets beat the Celtics recently. That's a team that's being slept on a lot within the Eastern Conference, but a team that I personally would be nervous to face. So there are lots of good teams out there, but the Celtics, to me, have the coaching and the players to be able to take on any of those teams. I'm not saying it's going to be easy and they're automatically going to win. I mean, the Thunder are a very good basketball team. They are 51 and 15 right now. So they do not lose a lot, similar to the Pistons. But I truly do feel like if the Celtics team is playing at its best and has its best players out there, it's going to be difficult for teams to beat them. I genuinely, truly do believe that. And with Jason Tatum in the mix, that certainly boosts that sentiment a lot. So it's really exciting having Tatum back into the fold. Derek White, shout out to him all season long for really being the guy who's fueled a lot of the offense for the Celtics team. And Peyton Pritchard, I mean, he deserves a lot of props this year because he was starting. And then when the Celtics ended up making that trade, in which they brought in players who they felt they needed to make an impact and shipped out players that weren't necessarily going to be a fit for this team anymore. They kind of shifted around Peyton Pritchard and moved his role around. And he went from starting to then playing off the bench. And I cannot applaud him enough for making that transition so seamlessly because Peyton Pritchard has always thrived in that six-man role. He always has thrived as that first guy off the bench for the Celtics. And then they started making him a starter because of how the team was aligned with Jason Tatum being out and all that. And he was playing really well there, too. So I was like, well, you know, this kid can start, he can come off the bench. I mean, he's really exciting to watch either way. So then when things changed a little bit and they did some shifting around with the roster at the trade deadline, then they moved Pritchard back to the bench. And I was like, well. I was like, he made that transition so seamlessly, no problem. And I love that for him. And what does that say? That says that for one, Peyton Pritchard is really flexible and he can play wherever. But for two, that Joe Mazzula and company have been really good about making sure that that chemistry remains and making sure that guys are still comfortable, even if their role changes a little bit due to different circumstances. And I just really like to see Peyton Pritchard doing what he's doing off the bench and being that guy that the Celtics can rely on off the bench without being a starter because they don't really need him to be a starter. And that's what's been so great about watching Pritchard perform this year. And I'm really excited to see how things move forward for him because that is his sweet spot to me. He should be that first man off the bench, and that's where he thrives the most. So shout out to him for making that type of transition so seamlessly. And shout out to Namias Cada for really providing those starting minutes as the big man right now. And he's the guy that the Celtics have heavily relied on down low. And while they have other options like Nikola Vusevich, who they traded for when they moved on from Anthony Simons, he's now injured and he's going to miss a good portion of time, like a couple months moving forward of the season. So they are going to need Keda and Luka Garza to continuously continue to step up. And the reason they brought in Bucevic wasn't because they didn't trust those two and that they didn't feel like Keda and Garza could do their job down low. It was more so they could add to that depth, get another veteran presence to be a stretch five option that the Celtics didn't really have. And that was the main purpose that Vusevich was serving. But now he's hurt. So now it's really up to these guys to continue to do what they're doing. And I have really enjoyed seeing what Keda can do to make a difference this season because he really has stepped up big time. And when they moved on from Anthony Simons at the trade deadline, that definitely was upsetting to a lot of the players. They really liked him, but they also understood that they had to do as a team what they had to do to make them a better team moving forward, and that Brad Stevens has to make some tough decisions when it comes to trades and who to move on from. But a lot of the Celtics players had nothing but good things to say about Anthony Simons and his time here, but it was a necessary move due to his contract and what the Celtics needed. It's just unfortunate that the return for that trade in Nikola Vusevich is now going to miss time. But the crazy thing about that is that the Celtics hopefully and likely won't miss a beat in his absence because what were they doing before he was there? Excellent and winning basketball games. So why would that change drastically now with him hurt? It shouldn't. And obviously, I would like for him to be healthy, and that would be ideal if he could come and make a difference offensively and defensively when he comes back. He's not the greatest defender, but I do feel like the ability is definitely there for him to continue to make a difference in other ways, even if he isn't making an impact defensively. And that's what we've seen from him throughout the course of his career with other teams is even though he's not the best defender, he still is a valuable player. And so I'm gonna be looking forward to seeing him come back, hopefully down the stretch for a late playoff push. But having Jason Tatum back, no doubt about it, is going to continue to make this Celtics team exciting to watch. And this team has a lot of good players who are making a difference on this team. Can't say enough about Hugo Gonzalez and his desire to win and how much he hustles and how much he works hard when he's out there. Jordan Walsh also makes an impact. So it's not like it's only a few Celtics players who have been exciting to watch this year. There's been a lot of players who have stepped up into the roles that they need to be in to make this Celtics team better moving forward. And I'm really excited to see how things play out for them. This is a team that I truly do feel like could make a deep run. And Knicks fans are out there thinking that they could easily beat the Celtics because they eliminated the Celtics last year in a series that Tatum played most of the games in. So therefore, Knicks fans are like, well, why would I be worried about Boston? But they're ahead of you right now in the standings. Tatum's only been back for three games, and they've been ahead of you in the standings even before he came back. So what does that say? Does that say you should be more nervous than you're making it out to be? So it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out. Celtics Pistons have been fun matchups each time this year. Celtics really just coming within one or two points primarily, and that was without Jason Tatum. So if you add Jason Tatum back into the fold, can they finish the job and close out games against that Pistons team? That's going to be a fun storyline moving forward as well, is being able to continue to close out games effectively and not make it super stressful at the end of these games. So the biggest keys for the Celtics continue to re-acclimate Tatum back into the fold. Take the young guys to the next level, put them in a position to where they can succeed and work them into a Tatum-led offense again, because some of these young players haven't really spent much or any time at all on the court with Tatum. So continue to acclimate everybody to that and then just get ready for a playoff run that should hopefully be super memorable and one for the ages with Jason Tatum on the team again. So it's been really exciting watching the Celtics, and we'll have to see how things all play out. But thank you so much as always for tuning in and supporting the show. Truly. It really means a lot to have you, the listeners, on board because I could not do any of this without you all. So I hear you, I see you, I appreciate you. Thanks so much as always for tuning in. Go Celtics, and I'll catch you next time.