Jayson Tatum, Celtics make statement in Game 1 against 76ers: Does anyone want Boston?

“It’s pretty nuts how far he’s come and how fast he’s gotten back,” said Celtics wing Sam Hauser, who added 12 points. “It just shows how determined and committed he was to his rehab and wanting to get back, and the belief he had in us — the chance we have to hopefully make a deep run — so it’s pretty impressive what he’s doing.”

Jaylen Brown, who made a surprising All-NBA First Team case during the regular season, backed it up in the playoff opener. He posted a 26-4-3, with two steals of his own, in 30 minutes, and turned Paul George into a nonfactor for much of the night.

There were questions about the rest of the Celtics, too. Not just about Tatum’s health or Brown’s emergence. Could what worked for them in the regular season — replacing erstwhile All-Stars Kristaps Porziņģis, Jrue Holiday and Al Horford with a collective that isn’t as talented but competes like hell — translate to the playoffs?

Well, the Celtics rolled out a regular rotation, 10 deep, even before things got out of hand against the 76ers, and got contributions from everyone. Hauser, Derrick White, Neemias Queta, Payton Pritchard, Nikola Vučević, Jordan Walsh, Luka Garza, Baylor Scheierman, all of them found positive ways into the box score before garbage time.

“We play our rotation,” said Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla. “We play our guys. It’s what we’ve done the entire year, and it’s what we’ll continue to do. … We just need them ready to make plays. We did that tonight, and we have to continue to do that.”

It was not like this last season. The Celtics were a top-heavy bunch that depended on talent, relying on the six guys who carried them to the 2024 NBA championship. And they were worn out. Porziņģis couldn’t stay healthy. Holiday was working on a hobbled hamstring. Horford was pushing 40 years old. And Tatum’s Achilles gave out.

They got beat in the second round of the 2025 playoffs by a harder-playing Knicks team. They let their foot off the gas and blew a pair of 20-point leads in Games 1 and 2 to New York and never recovered. It feels like they learned from that loss, and they took it out on Philadelphia, because Game 1 was certainly a mismatch in competition.

And the Celtics aren’t satisfied with a 32-point victory.

“We’ve been the harder-playing team all year,” said Brown. “That can’t change now that the playoffs have started. It’s just honing in on the details and winning the fight.”

Granted, this was one win against the 76ers, who are without one-time MVP Joel Embiid. But in it was a statement: Tatum’s Celtics took their first step back toward a third Finals in five years, and they put their foot on the gas. These Celtics will not be outplayed. They may be outscored at some point. But they will not be outplayed.

And nobody wants that.