Less than 48 hours after his emotional return at TD Garden, Jayson Tatum showed up in Cleveland and handled business.
The Boston Celtics beat the Cavaliers 109 – 98 on Sunday, with Tatum dropping 20 points in 27 minutes as Boston continued to build momentum around their returning star.
It wasn’t perfect though. Tatum went cold through the second and third quarters, missing all six of his attempts in that stretch. But coach Joe Mazzulla kept him on the floor at crunch time, and Tatum delivered, hitting a dagger three-pointer with 1:59 remaining to seal the win.
“Today felt a lot more normal, just from a preparation standpoint in this league,” Tatum said. “It felt like being back in the flow again.”
Jaylen Brown was the anchor dropping 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists. Payton Pritchard added 18 points off the bench, and Baylor Scheierman was a problem Cleveland simply couldn’t solve, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds on an efficient night.
Cleveland’s shooting let them down badly. The Cavaliers scored just 10 points in the second quarter as Boston built a commanding lead, going up 56–36 at halftime. Cleveland clawed back in the third, but Boston had too much momentum.
Donovan Mitchell, also returning back to the court after missing time with a groin injury, dropped 30 points on 9-of-18 shooting with 5 assists. Evan Mobley added 24. But it wasn’t enough to phase Boston.
As for Tatum, the 298-day road back is still fresh. He’s on a 27-minute cap, finished 6-of-16 from the field, and scattered his buckets across the game. The rust is real. But when the moment came, he hit the shot.
It marked the 11th straight game that Tatum has scored 20 plus points against Cleveland, the second-longest streak in franchise history behind Larry Bird, who did it in 13 consecutive games against the Cavs.
Tatum’s mother, Brandy, made the trip to Rocket Arena to watch, surprising him with a morning text to say she was coming.
Boston heads to San Antonio on Tuesday.
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