Zach Lowe Calls Jayson Tatum's Return For Celtics 'Legitimately Shocking'
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Jayson Tatum was the biggest NBA storyline of the weekend, returning to the Boston Celtics 10 months after suffering an Achilles injury.
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Tatum made his season debut on Friday night against Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks. While he was rusty at first, missing several open looks and a dunk early on, he settled down as the game went on and recorded 15 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in 27 minutes.
He was a bit better on Sunday, helping the Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road with 20 points, three rebounds and two assists in 27 minutes.
Bill Simmons and Zach Lowe broke down Tatum's return on Monday's episode of "The Bill Simmons Podcast."
"I'm legitimately shocked at how good he looks."@BillSimmons and @ZachLowe_NBA react to how Jayson Tatum has looked so far coming back from his Achilles injury. pic.twitter.com/ipzWEprP6O
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"It is the most exciting thing that happened in the last 72 hours," Lowe said.
"I would argue it's the most exciting that happened this season," Simmons countered, as he originally expected Tatum to miss the entire year and Boston's season to be far less successful.
"I'm legitimately shocked at how good he looks," Lowe agreed. "The eye test, I'm absolutely blown away. He looks really, really good already...He's so far ahead of where anyone could have reasonably expected him to be. It's legitimately shocking to me."
While Tatum is only 12-for-32 shooting so far, he was still explosive and generally looked like himself. Fortunately for Boston, he still has over a month to shake off the rust and ramp up before the NBA Playoffs start.
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