Tatum's Return, Mobley's Boards: Celtics Open in Cleveland

0:04The host: Jayson Tatum takes the court tonight for the first time since this time last year, and it's happening in Cleveland.

0:10The analyst: Sixteen games. That's what he played in all of 2025-26. Everything about tonight starts with that number.

0:18The host: Sixteen out of eighty-two. Say that again for the people who missed it.

0:23The analyst: Thirty-two point six minutes, twenty-one point eight points, ten rebounds, five point three assists. Three-point percentage at thirty-two point nine last season.

0:34The host: Those are good numbers. I'll take that as encouraging.

0:37The analyst: Sixteen games isn't proof of anything, good or bad. That's the sample we're working with tonight, and it's small.

0:45The host: The team was fine without him for stretches, though. Fifty-six and twenty-six, best record this franchise has had in years.

0:53The analyst: Net rating of eight point three. Offensive rating of a hundred twenty, defensive rating of a hundred eleven point seven. Boston's best defense in this stretch, built with Tatum missing two-thirds of the season.

1:06The host: So what's different tonight with him actually out there?

1:10The analyst: We find out. That's the whole point of preseason.

1:13The host: Fair enough. So what's the one thing that decides this game in two hours?

1:18The analyst: The frontcourt. Evan Mobley averaged eighteen point two points and nine rebounds last season. Jarrett Allen, fifteen point four points and eight point five boards.

1:28The host: That's seventeen and a half rebounds between two guys.

1:31The analyst: And we're sending out Neemias Queta and Mitchell Robinson to deal with it.

1:35The host: Queta held his own on the glass last year.

1:38The analyst: Eight point four boards a game. Robinson, eight point eight, but in only nineteen point six minutes a night. He wasn't built for a full workload yet.

1:47The host: So tonight tells us how much Mazzulla trusts him on the glass against real size.

1:52The analyst: That's the actual experiment. Not the score.

1:55The host: Let's talk about who's across from them. Cleveland won fifty-two games last year.

2:01The analyst: Net rating of four point one, pace of a hundred point seven. Fastest team Boston will see for a while.

2:08The host: And Kenny Atkinson's still got Mitchell and Harden running that break.

2:12The analyst: Donovan Mitchell, twenty-seven point nine points a game last season. James Harden, twenty-three point six points and eight assists. Those are fifty-two win numbers, not exhibition numbers.

2:24The host: Jaylon Tyson's their fourth option now, right?

2:27The analyst: Thirteen point two points, sixty-six games last season. He's not what decides tonight. The size up front is.

2:36The host: Anybody out for Cleveland tonight?

2:38The analyst: Peyton Watson, day-to-day with a hamstring. Fourteen point six points a game off their bench last season. They can live without that in October.

2:47The host: Our side is clean. Nobody out for Boston tonight.

2:50The analyst: Which means Mazzulla plays it close to straight. Tatum, George, White, Pritchard, Queta — close to the group we'll see in twelve days against Detroit.

3:00The host: First look at Paul George in green, too.

3:03The analyst: Thirty-seven games last season, seventeen point three points, five point three boards. He's also the return on Jaylen Brown — four picks came with him, two firsts and two seconds.

3:16The host: And that trade still has this roster at two hundred three point nine million against a two hundred point four million dollar tax line.

3:23The analyst: Boston's paying the bill for this already, four preseason games in. Tatum's deal alone is fifty-eight point five million.

3:32The host: George's is fifty-four point one. That's over a hundred million between two guys.

3:38The analyst: And Boston still owns its own firsts in 2027 and 2030. The 2028 first is protected. That's the price of staying competitive over the tax line.

3:47The host: No last game to lean on, so let's talk about the camp that got us here.

3:52The analyst: Max Shulga left September twenty-first. Hayden Gray and Gabe McGlothan came in two days later. That's the roster as it stands.

4:00The host: And that two-way spot's still open.

4:03The analyst: Since September twelfth. Three weeks, several moves, and it's still just a vacancy. Unusual this deep into camp.

4:11The host: Maybe tonight tells us who's auditioning for it.

4:14The analyst: Watch the end of the bench, not just the box score.

4:17The host: Ball's up in two hours in Cleveland.

4:20The analyst: No broadcast window on this one that we've got. Sunday against Philadelphia at home, that one's on NBA TV.

4:27The host: Mark it. Two days from tonight, back at the Garden.

4:31The analyst: Watch the glass — if Queta and Robinson hold up against Mobley and Allen, that's the real story tonight.

4:38The host: Everything else is preseason noise. Full coverage all night on the Celtics section of Hoops Nightly.