Celtics’ Jayson Tatum to make season debut vs. Mavericks

The wait appears to be over for Jayson Tatum.

The Boston Celtics announced that Tatum will make his season debut Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks at TD Garden. The game is a rematch of the 2024 NBA Finals — though both teams have a very different look, of course.

According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Tatum was fully cleared to return and all signs pointed to Friday being the night. Boston later made it official.

The timing is notable. Tatum’s return comes less than 10 months after surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon suffered in Game 4 of the Celtics’ second-round playoff series against the New York Knicks last May.

Tatum said months ago that whenever his comeback happened, he wanted it to come at home.

“My first game back will be in TD Garden,” he said last September. “It will probably be emotional.”

Boston has managed just fine in his absence. The Celtics enter the night at 41-21 and sitting second in the Eastern Conference standings.

Still, getting Tatum back changes the math.

From 2022-25, he averaged 27.7 points, 8.4 rebounds and five assists while earning four straight first-team All-NBA selections.

In the meantime, Jaylen Brown has carried much of the scoring load, posting career highs of 28.9 points and five assists per game.

Now comes the next challenge. Working the franchise player back into the lineup just as the playoff push begins.

Not the worst problem a contender can have.