The Boston Celtics appear to have a strong grip on a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference as the regular season gets ready to flip to March of 2026. And they've done all of this without Jayson Tatum, who apparently could be back very soon.
Tatum has been out since the 2025 NBA Playoffs, when he suffered a torn Achilles tendon on May 12 in Game 4 of the Celtics semifinal series against the New York Knicks. Boston's star has attacked his rehab from the very beginning, and now appears to be on pace to make a miraculously early return to the NBA hardwood.
According to ESPN's Sham Charania, Jayson Tatum could indeed be nearing a return to the Boston Celtics lineup as soon as March.
“Jayson Tatum has been a full go in 5-on-5 scrimmages with the Celtics,” he said of Tatum on ESPN's NBA Today. “Right now, it's about him continuing to put in the time, continuing to get his conditioning up and that comes through a number of practices and scrimmages. And there are two elements at play. One is increasing the strength in both of his calves off of that Achilles tendon injury and the big hurdle of all of this is getting 100 percent there on the mental side, getting the confidence in his leg fully when he's back.
“The common theme that I've gotten from people around Jayson Tatum is he will be back on the floor, “when JT feels like JT.” The Celtics have continued to let him lead that, he's in the driver's seat, they will take Jayson Tatum's lead as far as when he feels ready and cleared and then eventually, a dozen people here from doctors, Celtics officials, Jayson Tatum's side, Jayson Tatum himself, they're going to gather in a room and get him to a point where he wants to be which is in March, and awe get closer and closer to the playoffs, make a decision about whether he's able to make it back out on the floor.”
Jayson Tatum has missed the entire 2025-26 season thus far, but the Celtics have not lost any ground in the East. In fact, it's safe to say Boston has surprised almost everyone in the league with how they've played despite losing Tatum to the Achilles injury and trading Jrue Holiday as well as Kristaps Porzingis in the same offseason.
At 38-19, the Celtics currently sit just 4.5 games back of the Detroit Pistons for the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. They also currently sit two games ahead of both the third seed New York Knicks and fourth seed Cleveland Cavaliers.
In 72 appearances last season, Jayson Tatum averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from three.
