Kevin O'Connor Calls Celtics 'Clear Favorites' In East With Jayson Tatum Back
· Yahoo Sports
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Jayson Tatum's imminent return (expected Friday) has Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor convinced that the Boston Celtics are now the working favorites to win the East and advance to their third NBA Finals in the Tatum-Jaylen Brown era.
"Tatum's back, and the Celtics are now the favorites in the Eastern Conference, in part because the Celtics have their true number one back," O'Connor said on Thursday.
"It's not Jaylen Brown. He's been really good this season, but his last two months, Brown (is averaging) 27 points per game on only 52.8% true shooting. So, high volume scoring, but low efficiency. Brown needs Tatum back to help alleviate that workload ... ."
Jayson Tatum is back and the Celtics are now the clear favorites in the East. pic.twitter.com/uU8zDIKYkg
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnor) March 5, 2026
O'Connor went on to assert that Tatum's playmaking and spot-up shooting will be extremely additive for Brown and the Celtics, even if JT isn't 100 percent right away due to conditioning and rust.
O'Connor described Tatum as a "Swiss Army knife" who can help the Celtics as a role player before he returns to full form as a superstar, volume scorer.
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