Boston Celtics
“I wouldn’t say it’s a normal slump because this is the first time I went through something like this. It’s just been a long time.”
Jayson Tatum during the Celtics loss to the Timberwolves on March 22. Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
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In the NBA, eight games is a little less than 10 percent of the season. It’s a slightly longer stretch than the preseason, a slice of the overall big picture but ultimately just a snapshot.
The results ofJayson Tatum’s first eight games back have been generally positive for the Celtics, who have won six of them. Tatum’s minutes are up from the initial 27 per game over the first three, to 31 over the last three. He has immediately made an impact on the boards, grabbing 8.9 per game.
He has shown flashes of scoring ability, but there have also been signs of rust. He’s shooting 38.8 percent from the field, which is closer to how he normally shoots from 3-point range than how he does overall.
On Sunday, the Timberwolves beat the Celtics at TD Garden without Anthony Edwards. Tatum, who shot 6-for-16, was asked how much grace he gives himself during struggles like these.
Tatum leaned forward, looked around, and shook his head slightly as he spoke about his comeback.
“I didn’t know how this [expletive] was going to be,” Tatum said. “I mean, it’s tough. In the moment you try not to think about it. You just want to be Jayson Tatum and feel like yourself again.”
“I’m not superman so it’s obviously going to take some time. I think the next day I can give myself a little more grace over certain things but in the moment it’s frustrating.”
His shooting numbers aren’t too far off from where they were during the 2024 playoffs, when he shot 42.7 percent from the field and 28.3 percent from 3-point range. In both instances Tatum continued to hit more than 85 percent of his free-throws.
Both this stretch and that playoff run are outliers for Tatum. It wasn’t rust in 2024 as Tatum played in 72 out of 82 regular season games while shooting more of 45 percent from the field. While he did not have his shot falling then, he managed to lead the Celtics in points, rebounds, assists, and minutes.
This has been a different challenge, he said, shaking off rust from an extended absence caused by a serious injury.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a normal slump because this is the first time I went through something like this. It’s just been a long time,” Tatum said. “There was a long time before I could shoot a basketball. Just trying to knock the rust off game by game. I find great spurts in moments from game to game and am just trying to put more of them together.”
Tatum said he is feeling things out as he goes along. He mentioned that slowing down and focusing on the mental aspects of the game may be helpful as he looks at the overall picture of his game.
“For me, it’s mental,” Tatum said. “There’s a lot of things that I talk to Nick [Sang] about. Just things that I notice throughout a game, certain plays, certain moments of contact, certain things of explosion, attacking, getting downhill.
“The pace and speed of certain plays that just felt really normal, felt really good, or I didn’t think about it at all. Just finding more and more moments of those from game to game that get me really excited.”
There is still plenty of basketball to be played. The Celtics have 11 more regular season games. They’re clinging onto second place in the Eastern Conference standings and playoff basketball will likely return to Boston in a few weeks.
Tatum said he is taking things day-by-day. He endured a lengthy rehab process just to get to this point.
“I had, probably, the worst injury that you can have,” Tatum said. “I came back in 10 months and I’m getting better. Just a better feel each game.”
“I want it to be perfect,” Tatum added, as he snapped his fingers. “I want to be first team all-NBA Jayson just like that, but it’s going to take time. I didn’t rush the rehab process, so I can’t rush this. It’s all going to work out.”
Khari A. Thompson
Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.
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