BOSTON – Throughout the summer, many in Jayson Tatum’s orbit noticed something similar: He’s different. For years, Tatum had been obsessed with individual improvements—become a better scorer, rebounder and playmaker. He talked about All-NBA nods and winning MVPs, molding his superior talent into the NBA’s best. Yet coming off his first NBA Finals appearance, those close to him observed something new. Individual accolades didn’t come up as often. Winning did.
Tatum won Tuesday, contributing 35 points in Boston’s 128–117 opening night win over Philadelphia. It was far from a masterpiece. The Celtics’ vaunted defense allowed the 76ers to shoot 50% from the floor and 38.2% from three, while committing 24 fouls that earned Philadelphia 28 free-throw attempts. It was an explosive offense, which connected on 56.1% of its shots, that carried Boston to the win.
“Overall performance was good,” said Celtics interim coach Joe Mazzulla, who took over after the season-long suspension to Ime Udoka. “Once we were able to get back in the flow of the game by not fouling and getting stops, we were able to get to our strengths offensively.”
