Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum had to wait nearly 300 days to play in an NBA game after rupturing his Achilles in May. So, it is safe to say that he is enjoying life on the court, especially since his remarkable comeback has seen C go 2-0 up.
On Sunday afternoon, Tatum and company picked up a 109-98 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road. The six-time All-Star finished with 20 points, three rebounds and two assists in a nearly wire-to-wire win. And although Tatum missed seven of his nine attempts from deep, he nailed a wide-open triple with just 1:59 remaining in the fourth quarter to seal the Cavs' first season sweep of the Celtics since the 2019-2020 campaign.
The Celtics are up by 9 and need to stop the bleeding...who else but Jayson Tatum
He still has to work on some things, but his confidence remains intact. When he saw an open space he called Ball without hesitation:
pic.twitter.com/XWtXgHnlyz- Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) 8 March 2026
"I can't stress it enough, I'm just happy to be here and playing with the guys on the team, competing, making plays, making mistakes," Tatum told ESPN's Jorge Sedano in an interview after the game.
While Tatum continued to embrace regular season momentum, fellow Celtics star Jaylen Brown recorded a team-high 23 points with nine rebounds and eight assists. Boston's third-leading scorer on the day was point guard Peyton Pritchard, who scored 18 points off the bench while shooting 58.3% from the field.
These were pretty normal outings for Brown and Pritchard, so Tatum wasn't surprised by what they were able to do with the contending Cavs.
Tatum described Brown and Pritchard, saying, "They've been playing great all season." “It's been fun to watch from the sideline, and, like I said, I'm happy to be out there playing with them.”
to jayson tatum @celery About Jaylen Brown and Peyton Pritchard:
"They've been playing great all season. It's been fun to watch from the sideline, and, like I said, I'm happy playing with them." pic.twitter.com/eHq3sPwLQP
- Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) 8 March 2026
With Tatum sidelined, the Celtics managed to go an impressive 41-21 this season. They now improve to 43-21 overall and are benefiting from his arrival on the court and in the standings, as the Celtics are 2.5 games behind the first-place Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference.
However, the Pistons hold the tiebreaker over the Celtics. Also, the C's may have to face the league's two best teams in consecutive games. They are now in Texas to meet the San Antonio Spurs 47-17 on Tuesday night and will soon have to fly to Oklahoma to take on the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday evening.
Regardless of the final scores of those games, Tatum is glad to be back doing what he loves.
“Very happy to be here,” Tatum reiterated with a smile Sunday.
