Boston Celtics star trending toward comeback, but debut won’t come Wednesday.
The Celtics (41-20) keep stacking wins.
Jayson Tatum keeps inching closer.
Fresh off a 108-81 dismantling of the Milwaukee Bucks (26-34) - a game they handled without Jaylen Brown and Neemias Queta - Boston returns home Wednesday night to face the Charlotte Hornets (31-31). Brown and Queta are expected back in the lineup.
Tatum is not.
The Celtics officially ruled out their All-NBA forward again as he continues his recovery from an Achilles injury that has sidelined him all season.
For a fan base that has spent weeks circling home games on the calendar, Wednesday won’t be the night.
But the tone around his return has shifted.
According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, Tatum is trending toward a comeback before the postseason. The question, increasingly, isn’t whether he’ll return, it’s when.
“It certainly seems like a matter of when, not if,” MacMahon said on Wednesday’s Get Up, noting that Tatum has been playing five-on-five for weeks and ramping up his workload. The final hurdle appears to be comfort, not medical clearance - but whether Tatum feels he can perform at a level worthy of stepping back onto the TD Garden floor.
That distinction matters.
Oct 24, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jayson Tatum, center, looks on during the fourth quarter against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. (Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images)Tatum has made it clear he wants his season debut to come at home. Every game in Boston has felt like a soft checkpoint. Rumors have swirled. Game-time decision whispers have surfaced. And each time, the Celtics have opted for patience.
Friday’s matchup against the Dallas Mavericks (21-40) now becomes the next logical target.
In the meantime, Boston continues to look like a contender without him. The win in Milwaukee pushed the Celtics to 41-20, good for second place in the Eastern Conference and a slim cushion over the New York Knicks (40-22). They’ve built that position through depth, defense and a locker room that has embraced the “next man up” mantra all year.
That’s what makes Tatum’s eventual return so fascinating.
As MacMahon pointed out, expecting him to instantly resemble the All-NBA version of himself might be unrealistic. After months away, rhythm doesn’t magically reappear. The explosiveness, the timing, the conditioning - all of it comes back in stages.
The question isn’t whether Tatum can help. Even at 80%, he changes the geometry of the floor and the ceiling of the roster.
The real intrigue lies in the integration.
This Celtics team has forged an identity without him. When he returns, it won’t be to rescue a sinking ship. It will be to elevate one already sailing smoothly.
For now, the wait continues.
But it feels shorter than it did a month ago.
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Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.