Understandably, there’s been a push to temper expectations around Jayson Tatum in his return from a devastating achilles injury. But since coming back in early March, JT has soared over every hurdle, and for the most part, looks like he’s back to being the best version of Tatum that everyone knew and loved.
Still, it’s unfair to heap that level of expectation upon his shoulders, despite how well he’s handling it all. Surely there are going to be areas of his game that aren’t all the way back, and now that the playoffs have started, you’d figure that teams would do everything they can to try and expose his potential weaknesses.
Given the nature of the injury, it was fair to assume that one area where JT could drop off would be on the defensive end, especially guarding smaller players on the perimeter, where he’s forced to depend on his lateral quickness. The 76ers clearly assumed that would be the case as they worked to get Tatum switched onto Tyrese Maxey early in the game.
Tatum’s defense looking as good as ever
But that quickly proved to be dumbfounded as Tatum’s defense is starting to look as good as it ever has. His defense has always been underrated, and now, off the injury, there was a belief that it may even be a liability.
In Game One, that was anything but the case. According to Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston, when Tatum was the primary defender in Game One, he allowed 6-19 shooting (31.6%) and forced 2 steals.
When he was the primary defender on Maxey, he held him to just 2 points and forced him to shoot just 1-5 from the field. This, of course, is on top of the 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists that Tatum put up in just 32 dominant minutes of the Celtics’ 123-91 drubbing of the 76ers in Game One.
Another great defensive possession by Tatum on Maxey https://t.co/w7JGjb0lOu pic.twitter.com/5vRbhfxytP
— NikNBA🏀 (@NIKNBAYT) April 19, 2026
Tatum passed first playoff test with flying colors
JT has looked great for several weeks now, but there was still some doubt about his ability to carry it into the playoffs. If Game One was any indication, those worries were foolish. He was the best player on the court, especially in the first half when this game was somewhat competitive.
He did it on both ends of the floor as well. Philly thought they could attack him on defense, but instead, he showed that he’s still an elite defender, and if anything, someone they should probably try to avoid.
There will obviously be tougher games and likely tougher matchups moving forward. Things may not always seem this easy. But so far, Tatum has checked every box, and with each passing game, he looks more and more like a player primed to lead his team on another championship run.
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