It's amazing how good Jayson Tatum has looked and yet it still hasn't felt like he is back to old self quite yet. With each passing game, his progress has looked palpable, and if there was a game where the Boston Celtics star needed to look like peak Tatum, it was a game like this.
The Celtics were going up against one of the hottest NBA teams (seems to be a trend for their opponents these days) while down two of their three best players: Jaylen Brown and Derrick White. The kid gloves came off for Tatum, and TLDR: he delivered his best performance in a pretty convincing victory.
32 points, eight assists, and five rebounds to go with shooting 15-for-23 from the field to go with five threes. This included what basically was the kill shot.
Jayson Tatum on a mission in Charlotte 😤 pic.twitter.com/Kz4VeqXEQB
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 30, 2026
The statline didn't even tell the whole story. Tatum and the Celtics controlled the game pretty much from start to finish. He didn't single-handedly put Charlotte away or keep them at arm's length for that matter, but beating a team that's peaking at the right time like the Hornets in their own building required Tatum to look like the player he did pre-injury.
His statline combined with this game being dictated by him more or less prove that he played like the player he was before the Achilles tear.
That's good news for Boston & bad news for everyone else
Tatum looking like his old self is one thing, but him being able to beat one of the NBA's hottest teams while down his second- and third-in-command sends a message to the rest of the league that Boston will somehow be even scarier than they've already proven themselves to be.
There are still a few weeks left in the season, so who's to say that it can't get better from here? Everyone's been asking that ever since Tatum first returned to the floor. The only hurdles left for Tatum are his minutes restriction and whether he can consistently put up games like the one he just did against the Hornets.
There's bound to be a few more growing pains, but games like today were a massive test, just like Oklahoma City and Atlanta were, of which he and Boston passed with flying colors. If he can not only put up those numbers but consistently control games as he has for the past several years, it's hard not to think Boston could be trouble not just for the East, but for the league.