Despite showing signs of rust, and still working on his conditioning, Tatum has made a massive impact for the Celtics on both sides of the ball since his return.

Below are the top 5 In DFG% differential vs. expected.

PLAYER	GP	DFGM	DFGA	DFG%	FG%	DIFF%
Jayson Tatum	11	33	94	35.1	47.0	-11.9
Andrew Wiggins	7	31	88	35.2	46.9	-11.7
Zion Williamson	14	59	159	37.1	48.3	-11.2
Kyle Anderson	13	34	92	37.0	47.6	-10.7
Isaiah Hartenstein	9	44	117	37.6	48.2	-10.6

Source: https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-overall?CF=D_FGA*GE*70&Month=6&PerMode=Totals&dir=A&sort=PCT_PLUSMINUS

MacJonesisaterrorist | Celtics

47 | 5 hours ago

He doesn’t get enough love for his defense in the 2024 finals

GotKarprar | Mavericks

26 | 5 hours ago

He absolutely destroyed the mavericks pick and roll lob threats

AgadorFartacus | Celtics

15 | 5 hours ago

He doesn’t get enough love.

Me_975 | Celtics

4 | 4 hours ago

Hes trying to be the number one option when queta is the number one option

DittoLander | Celtics

2 | 5 hours ago

He doesn’t get enough.

nevermindthatyoudope | Celtics

0 | 4 hours ago

Im willing to bet he gets more than most.

Johnknight111 | Warriors

7 | 5 hours ago

It is hard to highlight great defense individually for players like him when other players around him are specialists in defense and are not as high profile (so that becomes a more core part of their identity for fans and media).

It is part of the deal. It is something that is routinely overlooked for many of the great non-bigs. Tatum definitely made the leaps in 2024 and 2025 on defense, and honestly with how the Celtics retooled this offseason… they got at worst a 3 year championship contender window barring major injuries and/or Nico Harrison-sponsored trades.

randotd152

6 | 3 hours ago

If you’re not a big man who gets blocks, or an aggressive on-ball perimeter defender, it’s pretty much impossible for a layperson to even tell if a defender is good.

Guys like Tatum with elite defensive BBIQ who are just always in the right place at the right time and quarterback the defense simply don’t stand out at all unless you know what you’re looking at.

Like I’m not sure how much stock I’d even put into this stat in a small sample size, but Tatum’s defense has looked as good as ever in his achilles return. And yet, he only has 2 blocks in 11 games - which is one of the main stats casual fans are going to be looking at to judge defense.

juicejug | Celtics

4 | 2 hours ago

Part of the problem is that great defense is a team achievement more often than an individual achievement.

Tatum is an excellent defender because he plays his role in the team defensive scheme at a very high level, but it’s really hard for a layperson to see that.

Johnknight111 | Warriors

2 | an hour ago

I agree. I also think as u/juicejug points out that often we give credit to defense as a team achievement. Great defensive play is absolutely an individual skill, a team achievement and a cultural/organizational mindset, and Tatum is definitely a part of all of that.

Happy to see Tatum back playing so well still. As someone who lives in America, I hope he is ready to go, because the stars and stripes are going to need Tatum to be that good on defense in 2028 in Los Angeles.

viktorfbg9 | Rockets

4 | an hour ago

Most of the “defense specialists” are frauds and not because they are bad at defense, but they play around 16-25 minutes a game at most.

I will always appreciate someone like Tatum who used to play 35+ mins and bring great defense to his team. Caruso for example whos known for his defending is playing 19 minutes a game. Tell LeBron defend for 19 mins and stand in a corner i beat he’s gonna be a defense specialist too.

NothingHead8233 | Celtics

15 | 4 hours ago

The most underrated defender in the nba. Very few guys who can do all the things he can on the floor. Truly a 1-4 guy and usually a 1-5.

nicklovin508 | Celtics

3 | 5 hours ago

Hell ya, he’s always been a plus defender but I swear 1-on-1 players will hit the toughest shots on him. None of that rn

Intelligent_Bee_2881

3 | 5 hours ago

MVP

No-Alternative2897

2 | 5 hours ago

Brown got great supporting cast

holyyguava | Hornets

2 | 40 minutes ago

Watching him since he’s been back you can see there’s rust and he’s been hesitant at times, but his defense has always looked good

[deleted]

1 | 5 hours ago

[deleted]

GfunkWarrior28 | Warriors

1 | 4 hours ago

Maybe he’s just not biting on fakes as much, because he’s lost a step? But he can still get a hand up.

jkwah | Celtics

4 | 4 hours ago

One thing I’ve noticed is he doesn’t necessarily contest at the rim as much on help defense. If the primary defender gets blown by JT might just stay on his guy and focus on the potential rebound.

AnonymousIguana_ | Celtics

0 | 3 hours ago

He never did. Part of his iron man ability (well, until last year) comes from being pretty safe with his body. He never goes for low chance blocks which is why you don’t ever see him getting postered.

It’s not like he’s low effort anywhere else so it’s not a knock on his defense, just a way he conserves energy/condition in non-critical possessions. He’s a “contain” defender, his strength is to force a tough shot and not foul- not winning 1v1 above the rim.

That’s why the Dort block was so awesome, that was not a normal Tatum play and clearly a mental thing for him to get his swagger back.

Herb0and3 | Nuggets

1 | 3 hours ago

That’s it. Give him the MVP

deets23_ | Celtics

1 | 35 minutes ago

His defense has ALWAYS been so underrated. Wish it could be more highlighted. It is awesome to watch

Jayson Tatum held opponents to 35.1% FG in March and 11.9% below expected, per NBA tracking. Both those numbers rank 1st (!) out of 288 NBA players to defend 70+ shots in the month

Jayson Tatum held opponents to 35.1% FG in March and 11.9% below expected, per NBA tracking.

Both those numbers rank 1st (!) out of 288 NBA players to defend 70+ shots in the month