Tracy McGrady questions whether Celtics are ‘still on same the page’ following Jayson Tatum’s return

Jayson Tatum, by his own admission, is still figuring things out as he re-acclimates to playing in NBA games after his 10-month rehab from a ruptured Achilles’ tendon.

It’s been an adjustment for his Celtics teammates too. Something hasn’t looked quite right since Tatum came back, NBC’s Tracy McGrady said during a recent appearance on the network.

“For Boston, it’s really just finding out the rhythm of the team now, of the other guys, when you insert a guy like JT,” McGrady said. “I don’t want to say it seems out of whack, but their shooting has gone down since he’s been here.”

“So, it’s really like, guys what are we doing here?” he added. “Are we running the same stuff that we ran before? Are we still on the same page, or are we divided because we are not playing our same game? I’m sure there’s a lot mentally that these guys are going through because of the insertion of JT and them not playing the same type of basketball that they played individually, not shooting the ball well.”

McGrady pointed to the Celtics’ close win against the Grizzlies Friday night, as well as some of the struggles the Celtics had in the loss to Minnesota.

“They struggled with Memphis the other night and they struggled [Sunday] against a team that didn’t have their best players,” McGrady said. “So, I’m sure there’s some questions that these guys have got to answer.”

Vince Carter offered one word in response to McGrady: Shotmaking. The Celtics shot 36 percent from the field against Minnesota, while Jaylen Brown went 9-for-26. The Celtics shot 45 percent from the field in the win against Memphis, where Tatum went 3-for-15.

Nights like those are bound to happen, Carter said, especially during the playoffs. The Celtics have struggles to adjust on multiple occasions when their 3-point shots weren’t falling during the playoffs in recent years.

“You’re going to have to make shots, and they’re going to have to figure out when we’re not hitting shots – and I know [Joe] Mazzulla has said he wants 40 to 60 [3-point] shots, they only got 33 up [Sunday], where do you go from there?”

“That’s the question because sometimes in the playoffs that 3-point shot is not going to be there. Who is going to be that next guy, or how are we going to play from then? Who do we feature, or where do we put our two stars to succeed.”

Carmelo Anthony suggested having Tatum play down low on the block more to create more high-percentage opportunities.

“Play in this low block, get as close as you can to the basket,” Anthony said. “You’re so big, you’re so strong, you can shoot over little guys, you can get in the paint. You’re too strong for these guys. Don’t try to get it back out there on the 3, I want to see you to get back to this spot, then you build yourself back up.”

Fifty-three percent (75 of 139) of Tatum’s field-goal attempts have been 3-pointers this season. He has taken only 40 shots from 10 feet and in this season. He has taken 62 pull-up jumpers, and he has only made 29 percent of those.

Getting more aggressive down low and settling for fewer threes would help Tatum’s game even when he’s fully healthy, McGrady said.

“We know we’re going to get our rhythm this way,” McGrady said. “Getting easy baskets getting to the free-throw line. Now, as you feel like you’ve gotten that rhythm you feel like you can extend out.”

“But to start out here and you don’t have your basketball legs, and then you struggle and then you don’t come inside? That’s a bad recipe for basketball.”

The Celtics are taking 42.3 threes per game this season, down from 48.2 a year ago. They had led the league in 3-point attempts the previous two years, but they are third this year.

Part of that has had to do with widespread personnel changes that came after Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and Al Horford departed in the offseason.

But, part of it is also that they’ve been playing without Tatum. He has taken at least 8.2 3-point attempts per game in each of the last five seasons.

It’s a part of Tatum’s game. The Celtics won a title in 2024 while shooting even more threes, and they survived a lengthy shooting slump from Tatum during those playoffs.

However, as Tatum continues to find his way while re-adjusting to the daily grind of an NBA season, a pair of former All-Stars are saying that things don’t quite look right and that some easy looks may be helpful.

Khari A. Thompson

Sports Reporter

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.