Boston Celtics fans got two reminders on the same night that this team is not over yet, even with Jaylen Brown sidelined. Payton Pritchard erupted for 36 points and Jayson Tatum quietly took over the fourth quarter as the Celtics rallied from a 19-point hole to beat the Atlanta Hawks 109-102.
The game also offered the most encouraging look yet at where Tatum is in his comeback from a torn Achilles tendon. Ten and a half months after the injury, he produced 13 points and the only two Boston assists of the fourth quarter, then delivered a brutally honest postgame assessment.
"I know I look rusty. I know I made some mistakes," Tatum told reporters. "But one thing that I do know is that I'm playing my ass off. I'm trying as hard as I can. It's I'm a little winded, but 10 and a half months after tearing my Achilles, I'm giving it all I got, and I know each game I'm going to get a little bit better."
Asked how it felt simply to be back on an NBA floor, Tatum did not try to dress it up.
"It's hard to put in words. However much I thought I missed it was times 10," he said.
NBC Sports Boston analyst Chris Forsberg flagged how rare that clutch experience has been since Tatum's return. "Since Tatum's been back, I think the number is he's only played 12 clutch minutes for the Celtics in that span. And I thought he was great in the fourth quarter, the 13 points. He had the only two assists in the fourth quarter as well," Forsberg said.
Drew Carter, calling the game for NBC Sports Boston, argued the night was exactly the developmental test Tatum needed.
"Tatum down the stretch won this game for us. And we were going to go to him, and this is what we needed. It's what he needed. It's what this team needs," Carter said. "Like, you have Jaylen Brown's playing at a ridiculous level right now, so it's going to be hard for Tatum to find games like this against a really good team going against one of the best on-ball defenders in Dyson Daniels. And he got a chance to execute and carry a team to a win."
Carter and Caleb Burton House both noted that Tatum is not waiting for his jumper to return before contributing in other ways.
"The thing about JT is that's the last thing that's going to come for him, is his shot. Right now he's getting his looks that he normally takes that he normally makes at a high percentage," Burton House said. "They're not going in because it's been a long time for him doing it. But the one thing that he hasn't wavered on is his rebounding, his effort defensively. And those things right there are big time, because he could easily be like, 'Man, my shot ain't going in,' and give a halfass effort on the other end of the floor, and he's not doing that."
The other story of the night was Pritchard. Locked into extended minutes with Brown unavailable, the Boston guard buried six three-pointers and finished plus-19 in what had been a one-point game in the third quarter.
"I looked up at one point and Payton Pritchard was a plus-19 in a one-point game in the third quarter," Forsberg said. "The way he impacted them getting back into this and accelerating away was huge for them."
Brian Scalabrine put it more simply. "Yeah, he was locked in. We know the numbers when Jaylen Brown is out. Pritchard has that 'I'm going to get opportunity, I'm going to get extended playing time' [mindset]. And he delivered today."
Drew Carter pointed to the Hawks' defensive scheme as a self-inflicted wound. "They left Pritchard alone. That's a terrible idea," he said.
Tatum credited the bench more than himself.
"We got a hell of a team full of winners, competitors, guys that step up. Pete had an incredible night tonight. Guys off the bench. Just the way we responded — we didn't start the game off that well, we was down probably like 19, but we just kept chipping away," Tatum said.
Atlanta, even in defeat, looked like a playoff problem. "The Hawks, man, they're not easy to put away," Forsberg said. "They're frisky, and your mind starts going to the playoffs and what teams you want to avoid."
For Boston, with the second seed still up for grabs in the Eastern Conference, every win at this stage is doubly significant. As Burton House put it: "This late stretch where, you know, a lot of the time in the last few years, by the time we get here we kind of know the Celtics seed one or two. It's different this year — they're in a battle for that two seed, so all these games are critical. So this was a huge win."
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*Originally published on [NBA News Global](https://nbanews.global/article/jason-tatum-payton-pritchard-celtics-hawks-march-comeback-may-2026). Visit for full coverage.*
