Celtics' Jayson Tatum checks another box with return to MSG - ESPN

NEW YORK — Jayson Tatum has accomplished plenty in his basketball career. The superstar Boston Celtics forward has won an NBA title, made several All-NBA teams and has a pair of Olympic gold medals.

But all of that couldn't quite prepare him for the emotions of Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

Tatum returned to the scene of what he called the «lowest point of his life» — when he tore an Achilles tendon against the New York Knicks during the Eastern Conference semifinals 11 months ago.

«Absolutely,» Tatum said when asked if he felt a sense of relief after finishing with 24 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in 40 minutes in Boston's 112-106 loss to New York. «It was a big moment, a big hurdle for me. I was nervous and anxious to come back here.

»Obviously, I wanted to win and play great, but more importantly, I just kind of wanted to walk off the floor on my own two feet."

Over the past month, Tatum has checked all sorts of boxes: returning to the court; playing heavy minutes (including 39 and 40, respectively, in Boston's past two games); and slowly looking more and more like the player who was named to the All-NBA first team each of the past four seasons.

One of the final boxes to check, though, was a return to MSG. And not only did Tatum do so, but he managed to do it in the way he hoped: healthy and without any issues coming out of it.

«Jayson was Jayson,» Celtics forward Baylor Scheierman said. «Pretty calm, cool and collected out there. Didn't really notice much of a difference out there tonight.

»He was just kind of the same as he always is."

Tatum isn't playing in both nights of back-to-backs, so had to decide whether to go Thursday in New York or Friday in Boston against the New Orleans Pelicans. He