Jayson Tatum Arrives for Celtics Return in Video, Says He's 'Excited' After Achilles Injury Rehab

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum has arrived at TD Garden for his first NBA action since suffering a torn Achilles tendon last May.

"I'm excited," Tatum said when asked about how he was feeling as he walked into the building for Friday night's matchup against the Dallas Mavericks.

Tatum's return comes after he confirmed Friday to People's Eileen Finan he would be playing in Friday's game.

"I might be emotional, but I'll be excited," Tatum told Finan. "I'll be anxious. And I'll just be proud of myself that I made it to that point. There's been some long days over the last 42 weeks."

Tatum suffered his Achilles injury during Game 4 of last spring's Eastern Conference semifinal against the New York Knicks. He underwent surgery May 13 and is set to make his return 10 months later.

He will slot back into the starting lineup for his return, head coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters Friday.

As for if Tatum will be on a minutes restriction, Mazzulla said he had "no idea."

ESPN's Jorge Sedano reported Tatum will not be on a minutes restriction, however.

Tatum is rejoining a Celtics team that has remained on track for a playoff berth in his absence, heading into Friday with a 41-21 record that has the team sitting in the No. 2 seed in the East.

The Celtics are 4.5 games back of the Detroit Pistons, and 1.5 games ahead of the No. 3 New York Knicks, with 20 games remaining in the season.

Tatum will have just over a month before the regular season wraps up on April 12 to try and get back to full capacity ahead of a potential playoff run, but ESPN's Shams Charania reported Friday that Tatum would likely be under a minutes restriction in his initial return to the lineup.

"My understanding is, both Jayson Tatum and the Celtics view these last 19 games, last month and a half of the regular season, as a pocket and window of time for him to get as close to peak form, peak Jayson Tatum ahead of the playoffs, as possible," Charania said.

Tatum's minutes restriction is expected to be in the range of 20 minutes, per ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel.

The Celtics star averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.1 steals through 72 games of the 2024-25 regular season before upping his production to 28.1 points and 11.5 rebounds in eight playoff games.

Helping Tatum work back toward his usual production levels while making sure he stays healthy will be key to the Celtics' hopes of making it past the second round for the first time since their 2024 title run this spring.