Tatum clears hurdle, happy to exit MSG on '2 feet'

NEW YORK -- Jayson Tatum has accomplished plenty in his basketball career. The superstar Boston Celtics forward has won an NBA title, made several All-NBA teams and has a pair of Olympic gold medals.

But all of that couldn't quite prepare him for the emotions of Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

Tatum returned to the scene of what he called the "lowest point of his life" -- when he tore an Achilles tendon against the New York Knicks during the Eastern Conference semifinals 11 months ago.

"Absolutely," Tatum said when asked if he felt a sense of relief after finishing with 24 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in 40 minutes in Boston's 112-106 loss to New York. "It was a big moment, a big hurdle for me. I was nervous and anxious to come back here.

"Obviously, I wanted to win and play great, but more importantly, I just kind of wanted to walk off the floor on my own two feet."

Over the past month, Tatum has checked all sorts of boxes: returning to the court; playing heavy minutes (including 39 and 40, respectively, in Boston's past two games); and slowly looking more and more like the player who was named to the All-NBA first team each of the past four seasons.

One of the final boxes to check, though, was a return to MSG. And not only did Tatum do so, but he managed to do it in the way he hoped: healthy and without any issues coming out of it.

"Jayson was Jayson," Celtics forward Baylor Scheierman said. "Pretty calm, cool and collected out there. Didn't really notice much of a difference out there tonight.

"He was just kind of the same as he always is."

Tatum isn't playing in both nights of back-to-backs, so had to decide whether to go Thursday here or Friday in Boston against the New Orleans Pelicans. He said he made that decision a few days ago.

Ultimately, getting rid of the bad taste of playing here, and the emotions that came along with it, won out over waiting until a potential matchup with New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals in a few weeks.

"It was a lot," Tatum said. "Especially in the beginning. It took me a while to calm down."

It wasn't the cleanest performance -- he went 2-for-10 from 3-point range and had six turnovers - but ultimately none of that will matter much. The Celtics are virtually assured of having the No. 2 seed in the East playoffs and are likely to face either the Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers or Charlotte Hornets in the first round. A potential rematch with New York would come next.

He admitted that at times during Thursday's game he had to tell himself to breathe and that things ultimately would be all right. And, he said, he was glad to walk out of MSG with a mental victory -- even in a loss.

"Huge," he said of the importance of such victories during his comeback. "Today was important to me, especially when I made the decision to come back and then made the decision to play today.

"I'm glad I did. I feel a lot better."

Tatum's return has made Boston the betting favorite to reach the NBA Finals for a third time in five years, a remarkable statement given his injury and the many departures to the Celtics roster via trade and free agency over the past year.

All of that, though, was secondary Thursday to Tatum being back on the court and making it through this game unscathed.

He said he appreciated the sentiments that continue to be shared with him since his return, like when Knicks fans -- not exactly known to be friendly to their neighbors to the Northeast -- gave him an ovation when he was introduced, or when New York star Jalen Brunson talked about how happy he is to see him back on the court and healthy during his televised postgame interview.

"I mean, since I've returned the reception that I've gotten from players, coaches I've never even spoken to, GMs, has been great," Tatum said. "Even today when they announced my name it was kind of loud in there, and that means a lot, obviously, wearing a Celtics uniform that just showing their respect, obviously, because it happened in this building.

"I appreciated that."