Jayson Tatum Challenges Celtics To Meet January Goal After Clutch Win

The Boston Celtics clearly haven’t looked right for the last month.

They’ve already matched their loss total at home from the championship season and failed to match their identity. The Celtics ended the calendar year in an inconsistent 3-3 stretch. That set up a difficult road trip to start 2025.

Tatum, without Kristaps Porzingis and Jaylen Brown, did enough for the Celtics with 33 points in a 118-115 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves to go 1-0 in the new year.

“We’ve had a rough stretch the last eight or nine games,” Tatum told TNT’s Allie LaForce postgame. “This January we’re trying to turn it around and get back to our identity. What better way to come in on the road in a tough environment against a really good team down to of your best players. The way that we responded and figured out a way to win, you’ll take that any day.”

The schedule won’t get any easier for Boston as the Celtics battle Western Conference contenders in a row against the Houston Rockets, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Denver Nuggets. That’s a gauntlet to get through, though the perfect opportunity arrives for the Celtics to reestablish their league-wide dominance and reset their standard to start 2025.

“Take it one game at a time,” Tatum added. “I love the way we competed, our physicality was on point tonight. That’s what it’s going to take.”