Celtics star Jayson Tatum says he's 'starting to feel like my old self' again after hitting game-winner

Tatum, now a year-and-a-half removed from a torn Achilles, has been on an early season tear for Boston Eighteen months out from a torn Achilles that cost him the majority of last season, Jayson Tatum said he's "really starting to feel like my old self" after burying a buzzer beater to lift the Boston Celtics to a thrilling 125-124 overtime win over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday. Tatum finished with 40 points, eight assists and five rebounds on 10-of-20 shooting from the field, made a career-high 18 free throws and did not commit a single turnover. He now has seven game-winning shots with three or fewer seconds remaining in the 2020s, which is the most by any player this decade. With 2.3 seconds remaining in overtime, the Celtics had the ball thanks to a bizarre decision by Nets rookie Mikel Brown Jr. to take a contested layup instead of waiting to be fouled. Everyone knew the ball was going to Tatum in that situation, and he took the inbound pass from Derrick White, spun to his left, took two dribbles and rose up for a wide-open free-throw line jumper that caught nothing but net and sent TD Garden into hysterics. "I'm 18 months out from the torn Achilles]. For me, it's about progress and how I'm moving," Tatum said on the broadcast after the game. "It's little moments throughout the game where I do something, and it's not always with the ball, where I'm like, 'Ooh, it's coming back to me and I'm really starting to feel like my old self.' I feel really good about that."