CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Jayson Tatum spent the end of the Boston Celtics’ win Sunday with his warmup shirt on and a towel hanging from his neck. He had already done more than enough to close out the Charlotte Hornets.
Before checking out late in the fourth quarter with the Celtics well on their way to a 114-99 victory, Tatum notched 32 points, eight assists and five rebounds, reaching the 30-point mark for the first time since returning from a torn Achilles on March 6. His previous season high was 27 points. As Tatum rediscovers his efficiency, it’s key to note this is the 112th time in his career he’s scored at least 30 points while shooting at least 50 percent, inching him closer to Paul Pierce (116) for the second-most such games in Celtics history. Larry Bird (192) holds the team’s regular-season record.
Sunday’s performance marked a key step in Tatum’s recovery given the challenges of high-profile players like himself trying to regain old form. For instance, Kevin Durant reached the 30-point threshold in his fourth game back from his Achilles recovery, which coincided with his debut season with the Brooklyn Nets. Kobe Bryant did so in his eighth outing and second season following his rupture. Dominique Wilkins, known as the standard-bearer for Achilles recoveries after his nine-month rehab, poured in 30 points during his first game back on Nov. 6, 1992.
With Jaylen Brown (left Achilles tendinitis) and Derrick White (right knee contusion) sidelined, Tatum started the game with an aggressive mindset. He drove past Brandon Miller for a dunk to open the Celtics’ scoring and added a post-up jumper over LaMelo Ball moments later. Later in the first quarter, Tatum sliced past Ryan Kalkbrenner for another basket at the rim before pulling up from near the Hornets’ logo for a 3-pointer. Tatum checked out of the game for the first time with nine points over 6:44 of playing time.
Tatum’s hot hand did not disappear during his first stint on the bench. Shortly after reentering the game at the start of the second quarter, he pump-faked to lift Miles Bridges off his feet before draining another pull-up 3-pointer. After the basket, Tatum shook his head as if to let it be known the Hornets couldn’t stop him. One minute later, he drew a three-shot foul when Ball was too eager to defend him beyond the arc. When Tatum subbed out again with 7:06 left in the second quarter, a group of Celtics fans in Charlotte showered him with a loud ovation. He had already scored 16 points. Boston opened up a comfortable lead during the quarter to enter halftime ahead 63-49.
Midway through the third quarter, Tatum delivered some more high-difficulty baskets while splashing home a short jumper over Bridges then spinning into a fadeaway over Kon Knueppel. Tatum shook his head again after the latter score.
After missing his first four shots of the fourth quarter, Tatum muscled through Ball for a short jumper to give the Celtics a 103-90 lead midway through the period. Tatum then extended his team’s advantage to 16 points with a 3-pointer on Boston’s next possession. He did not return to the game after the ensuing timeout, leaving him with 31 minutes played. He shot 12 of 23 from the field, including five of 10 on 3-point attempts. He entered Sunday shooting a career-low 30.3 percent from deep on 8.9 attempts per game this season,
Payton Pritchard also delivered for the Celtics with 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting. Neemias Queta (17 points) and Baylor Scheierman (14 points) also scored in double figures.