Steve Popper: Jayson Tatum's return has Knicks talking, and they embrace facing best
The Celtics' Jayson Tatum walks through a crowd of fans to get to the locker room on March 6 in Boston — his first game back since tearing his achillies last May. Credit: Getty Images/Maddie Meyer
DENVER — The Knicks were at Ball Arena, preparing to face the Nuggets, the latest test in a brutal stretch of five games against some of the NBA’s best teams. But across the country, there was a whole different challenge emerging.
The Boston Celtics, already surprisingly in second place in the Eastern Conference, a game and a half ahead of the Knicks, got Jayson Tatum back Friday night for the first time since he suffered a ruptured Achilles in Game 4 of the conference semifinals against the Knicks last season.
Now, 298 days after that injury, with more than a month to ready for the playoffs, Tatum was returning to the lineup for a team that has exceeded expectations without him. And the Knicks’ path toward an elusive NBA title just got tougher.
“Obviously, you want everyone back healthy, right?” Jalen Brunson said. “You want people to be healthy, be 100%. He’s worked really hard. Obviously, people have seen the clips on social media with the work he’s put in and everything. It’s great to see. He’s great for his team, great for the league. Just wish him health.
“You wish good health on everybody. Obviously, you want to beat everybody you play against. But you don’t wish any negative on anybody. No matter the rivalry. Or whoever you like or don’t like. It doesn’t matter. You want everyone healthy and going home in one piece.”
Tatum had 15 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in 27:10 in the Celtics’ 120-100 win over the Mavericks — but on the night he returned, Boston center Nikola Vucevic suffered a fractured right ring finger.
Brunson remembers the moment on May 12 when Tatum’s injury occurred. The Knicks were on their way to a three-games-to-one lead in the series, three minutes remained and there was a scramble for a loose ball after Jaylen Brown lost control. OG Anunoby scooped it up and headed for a fast-break dunk. As Tatum lunged for the ball, he immediately fell to the ground, writhing in pain.
“He was torching us,” Brunson said of Tatum, who had 42 points when he went down. “He was torching us. He was playing great. At first, I thought he just rolled his ankle. And obviously, I saw the reaction, saw everything, and it was clearly much worse. But I have nothing but great things to say about him. I’ve known him for a very long time. Great work ethic. Great person. I wish him nothing but the best on his return.”
While there is an odd debate going on about how his return will fit with the Celtics — spoiler alert: They will be better with the superstar back in uniform — the Knicks provided their best wishes and didn’t concern themselves with how it will throw another obstacle in their path.
“I mean, it doesn’t matter to me because at the end of the day, if we’re not executing and playing at a high level and being disciplined, it doesn’t matter who’s on the court,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “We’ll lose. We’ve got to be our best version. You can’t be worrying about anyone else. We need to worry what’s in house first.”
“Obviously, whoever is on the court, you play to win,” Brunson said. “And it doesn’t matter who is on the court. That’s the mindset. I’m just saying with a player of that magnitude, obviously you wish them a successful return and everything. Like I said, you just want them healthy.”
The Knicks certainly have done a lot to make their own case as contenders of late, fixing their defense and continuing to be a dangerous offense with a variety of weapons. They started this five-game stretch by beating Victor Wembanyama’s Spurs, knocked off Toronto on the road and lost a tight battle with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder before heading out for a four-game road trip that began Friday night against Denver and Nikola Jokic.
Towns was asked about how to match up with the three-time MVP and said, “He’s really damn good. That’s pretty much it, pretty much to it. You just go out there and compete at a high level against one of the best.”
The Knicks have done that, already beating the Nuggets once this season in double overtime after a pair of one-sided wins over them last season.
“We just got good personnel, a good group of guys, a special locker room,” Towns said. “That gives us a chance to go out there and compete against the former champions.”
It gives them a chance to compete against anyone, something they’re more than happy to do with the opposition at full strength.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
