5 takeaways: Jayson Tatum puts together best performance since return

Jayson Tatum swung to his right with ease, stepping back and releasing a jumper that took a couple bounces off iron before settling comfortably through the net. The Celtics superstar was deep in his bag to get that shot off, and as he skipped back to the other end, the only thing he could do was shake his head in disbelief. 

It was the type of make that had become customary for Tatum throughout his eight year career, but after an Achilles tear put the forward on a long road back to his former self, it was a shot during a night he hasn’t experienced yet. 

On Sunday night in Charlotte — the old Jayson Tatum was back. 

Tatum’s 32 points led the way as Boston cruised to a 114-99 win over this season’s NBA surprise in the Hornets. 

Here are five takeaways from the Celtics’ 50th win of the year… 

It was just seven days ago against Minnesota when Tatum went scoreless in the first half, and the alarms were raised about how he perhaps hadn’t looked like his old self since returning. 

That conversation appears to have been flipped on its head. 

Tatum has shown flashes of his full potential since returning. Whether it was a dominant first quarter in Cleveland or 26 against the Hawks on Friday, the flashes were there but the full four quarter performance wasn’t there — yet. 

For the first time since Tatum took the floor on March 6, the superstar put together a vintage performance, scoring 32 on 12-for-23 shooting. Charlotte's defense gravitated towards Tatum, which led to six assists to a handful of wide open shooters. 

Tatum got off to a red hot start as well as he scored or assisted on Boston’s first 15 points. 

“I thought he did a great job on the offensive end, and just diagnosing the different coverages and making the play that was necessary,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said postgame.” 

The night also came with an accolade as Tatum became the youngest player in Celtics history to score 14,000 points, and did it in the second fewest games behind Larry Bird.

There could very well continue to be ups and downs in Tatum’s play over the next couple weeks and throughout the rest of the season. While it’s unlikely he plays on the back end of the back-to-back on Monday, he may not replicate what he did on Sunday the rest of the way. 

That’s OK. 

To know that Tatum is capable of this type of performance elevates what Boston can achieve in the postseason. 

Payton Pritchard has played a lot of roles for the Celtics this season. He started as the starting point guard, where he experienced his fair share of ups and downs. Then came the move back to his usual position as the team’s sixth man, where he continues to thrive. 

On Sunday, with Jaylen Brown and Derrick White on the sidelines, Pritchard rose to the role as the second option, and he looked mighty comfortable. The guard scored 28 points on 10-for-18 shooting as he paced the second unit. 

Pritchard has actually been dominant in all eight games in which Brown has missed this season. The six man averages 25 points and seven assists in games in which Brown does not play. Now most of those occurred when Tatum was also out, but it’s just another sign of how deep the Cs can reach into its roster to find significant scoring threats. 

Pritchard has scored 64 points in his last two games after a 36 point explosion on Friday night. 

“just got to build on it game to game, and just (make) winning plays,” Pritchard said. “So every game can look very different. I just try to affect the game the best I can.” 

Nobody has made more threes than the Hornets 1222 makes this season. Rookie phenom Kon Knuepple has made the most triples in the NBA with 257. 

On Sunday, Charlotte made just 12 triples on 28% shooting from deep, and Knuepple hit just one three all the way back in the first quarter. 

The cold spell combined with Boston putting together a good offensive night thanks to Tatum and Pritchard put the Hornets in a hole they were never going to dig out of. 

“When you play against a team like that, you have to be very deliberate about which ones you want to live with and which ones you're going to take away,” Mazzulla said. “That may look different for each person on their team. It may look different for certain layups. 

“And so they definitely missed some they usually make. I thought we did a decent job arriving on the catch, taking away some of the ones that we can control.” 

For the 12th straight season the Celtics will be playing postseason basketball. 

The win clinched Boston at least a top-six seed in the East, and with eight games remaining the Celtics will more than likely clinch a top-four seed and home court in the first round. 

Boston is no stranger to the playoffs, and with the state of the bottom half of the NBA, it isn’t necessarily the biggest accomplishment to just clinch a spot in the playoffs, but the consistency across teams, coaches and eras is impressive. 

“I think it's a testament to the alignment of the organization to the players we've had,” Mazzulla said. “We've shifted players over the last five years a bunch of different ways, but winning still remains the most important thing. It's a minor milestone. I wouldn't say that it's the true definition of success, but I think it's the definition of consistency.” 

The win also marked the Celtics 50th of the season, which may be the most impressive milestone for this team. The expectations weren’t sky high for this team in October. There was certainly an expectation that they could be good, but a fifth-straight 50 win season seemed far-fetched. 

Boston will soar past that mark this season once again. 

Moving forward, expect the Celtics to continue to manage its key players, especially the starting rotation. Brown missed his second-straight game with Achilles tendonitis, but is on the road trip and should probably play on Monday against the Hawks. 

White also missed his fourth game of the season with a right knee contusion. It’s another minor injury that Mazzulla and the staff will take some precaution with, but it’s more just making sure the roster is peaking at the right time and not dragging anymore than a player can after a full season. 

“That’s where the conversations with our front office, sports science team, what’s best for each player, what’s best for our team,” Mazzulla said. “The sports science team does a great job throughout the entire year gathering information and knowing what’s best for each guy and how to be at our best.”