Jayson Tatum will attempt to take another step forward in his return from surgery to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon when the Boston Celtics try to cool off the visiting Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.
Tatum turned in what was arguably his best performance of the season during Wednesday’s 119-109 triumph over Oklahoma City. He had 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in just over 35 minutes of playing time – the most he’s played in a game this season.
“I think that game was awesome,” teammate Jaylen Brown said. “I think that, one, the intensity level of the game was very high. Felt like a playoff game. The crowd was into the game. And I felt like that was a great encouraging game for JT, like, high-level intensity, physical team. And it felt like that was a step in the right direction.
“We’re still encouraging him to get back to that level of aggression that we know and are used to. But I think today was a great game of him making the right plays, making the right reads, being physical, and being Jayson Tatum.”
Boston (48-24) is 7-2 since Tatum returned to the court. He injured his Achilles last May during the playoffs.
“It definitely feels different,” Tatum said. “Just from the standpoint, it’s been a while since I’ve been in certain moments. And sometimes the best moments when I don’t have a chance to think, when I’ve just got to react and I got to move, whether it’s coming off a ball screen or on a closeout or you get a rebound and you’ve just got to take off with the ball. And it will be moments like that and afterwards I’d be like, ‘All right, that felt good. That felt normal.’
“It’s still just one regular-season game, but defending champs, the last two teams to win the championship, the way that they play and compete and how talented they are, just two really good teams going head-to-head. Just as a competitor, it raises your level of play. And it was just fun being out there in an intense game.”
The Hawks (41-32) stretched their winning streak to three games by beating Detroit 130-129 in overtime Wednesday night. Atlanta has won 14 of its last 15 games, and is 15-2 since the All-Star break.
The Hawks had a 21-point lead in the first half Wednesday, but Detroit outscored Atlanta 40-25 in the third quarter. The Hawks also led 121-116 with 44.1 seconds to play in regulation.
The Pistons had a chance to win, but Tobias Harris and Jalen Duren each missed a shot on Detroit’s final overtime possession.
“Being up five (near) the end of regulation, there’s a lot of times when that happens and you go to overtime (and) you’re a little defeated,” Atlanta coach Quin Snyder said. “That’s why it was a really good game for us. We’d like to have played better in that third quarter, but the fact that we responded to it was really good.”
Jalen Johnson led Atlanta with 27 points, eight rebounds and 12 assists in the win. Johnson leads the Hawks in scoring (22.8), rebounds (10.3) and assists (8.1) this season.
The Celtics and Hawks will also meet Monday in Atlanta.
