Jayson Tatum got off to a 0-for-6 start in his return from a torn Achilles.
But he then drilled his next five shots and finished with 15 points on 6-for-16 shooting with 12 rebounds and seven assists in the Celtics’ 120-100 win over the Mavericks on Friday.
Tatum, who was off the court for 298 days following the torn Achilles suffered at Madison Square Garden in Game 4 of the Knicks-Celtics Eastern Conference semifinals, scored his first points on a put-back dunk.
The jam came on a missed 3 from Payton Pritchard with 1:16 to go in the second quarter, where Tatum — one of the best rebounding forwards of this era — easily boxed out Rookie of the Year contender Cooper Flagg to position himself for the two-handed slam to give the Celtics a 52-51 lead shortly before halftime.
“This is a huge step. I’ve still got a long ways to go,” Tatum told reporters after the game.
Tatum joins the Celtics as the team moves to 42-21, maintaining the second spot in the Eastern Conference, temporarily holding off the Knicks, who won 142-103 over the Nuggets on Friday night, improving to 40-23.
Tatum started and was a plus-20 in his 27 minutes, logging the fourth-highest total on his team during his return.
“Nights and days I dreamed about this moment,” Tatum said, according to NBA.com. “It’s been 42 1/2 weeks since I played in an NBA game. Just trying catch up on the speed … but the game started slowing down.”
Jaylen Brown, who has carried much of the offensive mantle in Tatum’s absence, paced the team with 24 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Flagg was held to just 16 points on just 7-of-23 shooting, adding eight boards and six dimes in the Dallas loss.
Boston will play the Cavaliers in an afternoon tip-off Sunday at 1 p.m.