Jayson Tatum made a triumphant return from long-term injury as the Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks 120-100 in the NBA on Friday.
Tatum, making his first appearance since suffering a ruptured right Achilles tendon during the playoffs last May, scored 15 points to help the Celtics secure a commanding win.
Boston’s packed TD Garden had risen as one to give the popular 28-year-old a rousing standing ovation as he took to the court for the first time in 298 days.
The six-time NBA All-Star looked apprehensive during a slow start but looked like his old self after bagging his first points late in the second quarter.
A two-point tip-in dunk got him off the mark, and he followed that up with a confident step-back three-pointer from the corner immediately afterwards to give the Celtics a 55-53 lead.
He added 10 more points in the second half as Boston pulled clear for a win which leaves the second-placed Celtics on 42-21 in the Eastern Conference, hard on the heels of the Detroit Pistons (45-16).
“It was surreal, it was an emotional day,” Tatum told ESPN after the win. “Many days I dreamed about this and it’s great to finally happen. And sharing it with my family, my teammates and the crowd was everything I ever dreamed of.”
Tatum admitted that during his long rehab he had even questioned whether he would be able to return.
“It’s been tough,” he said. “A lot of times I doubted myself. A lot of nights I spent crying. But I just tried to keep showing up every day and put my best foot forward. I’ve still got a long way to go but this is a huge step for me.”
Tatum added that his teammates’ impressive form this season had helped motivate him to return.
“Being around these guys motivated me – the way they’ve attacked the season, the way they’ve competed together,” he said.
“Going through rehab is lonely, you kind of feel isolated. You just can’t be out there. But being around them as much as I possibly could just still made me feel like I was part of the group and that helped me a lot.”
Elsewhere Friday, the San Antonio Spurs delivered another statement performance with a come-from-behind 116-112 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
San Antonio, who had beaten the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons on Thursday, appeared to be feeling the hangover from that win as the Clippers raced into a 75-20 lead early in the third quarter.
But French superstar Victor Wembanyama led an improbable second-half fightback which saw San Antonio inch ahead in the fourth quarter before snatching victory in the closing seconds.
“This was like a statement to ourselves for sure, like any game is winnable,” said Wembanyama, who led San Antonio’s scoring with 27 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks.
Wembanyama was backed by 20 points from Julian Champagnie and 19 from De’Aaron Fox.
In other games, the New York Knicks dished out a 39-point walloping of the Denver Nuggets in Colorado.
OG Anunoby launched six three-pointers to finish with 34 points in a 142-103 blowout. Nikola Jokic topped the Denver scoring with 38 points on a night to forget for the Nuggets, who saw Jamal Murray suffer an ankle injury in the second quarter.
Nuggets coach David Adelman refused to blame Murray’s injury for the loss.
“That’s not why we got our ass kicked; it was because guys just let go of it like they didn’t compete, I’d say from three minutes to go in the third quarter to all the way in the fourth,” Adelman said. “Give them credit -- they played well, and we sucked.”
The Los Angeles Lakers kept up their run of recent good form with a 128-117 blowout against the Indiana Pacers.
Luka Doncic’s 44 points carried the Lakers to a victory which leaves Los Angeles on 38-25 in sixth place in the Western Conference.
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