We’re one game into the 2026-27 NBA season, and the ridiculous Jayson Tatum discourse is already popping up. For whatever reason, there aren’t many players who fans and media love to hate on more than JT, and with everything that has happened this offseason in Boston, the haters are absolutely dying to come out of the woodwork with their torches and pitchforks.
And at least for one game, they got their wish.
Let’s start with the negatives. The Celtics blew a 22-point second-half lead, completely collapsing as they fell to the Pistons, 121-113, on Tuesday afternoon in Detroit. Tatum had just 13 points and 4 rebounds on a measly 6-for-23 shooting, including 0-for-7 from three-point range and just one free-throw attempt on the night, which came on Boston’s very first basket.
Tatum needs to play a lot better. And he will be.
He scored just 2 points in the second half on 1-for-10 shooting, and didn’t get to the line at all. As the Celtics’ offense cratered and their big lead disappeared, Tatum was unable to do anything about it and, if anything, seemed to start forcing bad shots and getting away from what was working.
Simply put, he has to be better, especially late in games and in crunch time. He has to score, he has to create offense, he has to be efficient, and he has to be the elite defensive rebounder we know him to be. And he knows that.
But now let’s take a step back and look at things from another angle. Tatum had 11 assists in this game, and his passing and playmaking were incredible. His gravity was very noticeable, and the way he had the defense on a string for much of the night was very impressive to watch. He looked like the true offensive hub that everyone believes he can be.
Furthermore, most of his ‘struggles’ can simply be attributed to bad shooting and frustration, which led to more bad shooting, all while being guarded by arguably the best perimeter defender in the league, Ausar Thompson. It was a rough shooting night, but that happens. We all know Tatum is going to shoot and score at a high level once he gets into a rhythm.
Shooting woes never last for Jayson Tatum
And speaking of rhythm, let’s give him some grace. This is still a guy who’s roughly 18 months off a devastating Achilles injury. He has done an amazing job of recovering and coming back, and he got his feet wet at the end of last season, but this was his first game back as the unquestioned go-to guy since the injury.
He held up physically just fine, looked like his old self, and played 37 minutes with no signs of fatigue. If a few more shots had fallen and the Celtics had held on to get the win, we’d be singing a very different tune, and the narrative would be completely flipped.
Another thing: the last time Tatum played a full season, his teammates in the rotation were Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, and Luke Kornet.
Tatum is adjusting to an entirely new team around him
Other than White, he’s now playing with an entirely new starting lineup, and the only familiar faces on the bench are Pritchard and Hauser. Paul George and Mitchell Robinson are brand-new additions, and he got a brief look, but for the most part, these are his first real game reps with Jordan Walsh, Neemias Queta, Baylor Scheierman, Hugo Gonzalez, and Luka Garza.
So, while we’ve come to expect supernatural things from Tatum, and I still have extremely high hopes for him this season and beyond, let’s take a step back and appreciate the big picture. We don’t need to overreact to one bad shooting night in a weird, one-off weekday matinee on the road against an elite defense.
Overall, this was an encouraging showing from the Celtics’ franchise player, and I’m more confident than ever that he’ll be every bit the player he was before the injury and more. It wasn’t a pretty start to the season, but Boston is in good hands with Tatum leading the way.
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