Jayson Tatum Slayed His Knicks Demons, But His Son Deuce Stole the Show

One of the most traumatizing moments of Jayson Tatum’s life happened at Madison Square Garden in New York City last May.

The All-Star forward tore his Achilles during the Boston Celtics‘ loss to the New York Knicks in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Tatum made his remarkable comeback on March 6, and Thursday night marked the first time Tatum played at MSG since rejoining the Celtics.

Tatum said earlier this week that he was “not thrilled” to return to the scene of “a traumatic experience.” While the Celtics (54-26) lost 112-106 to the Knicks (52-28), Tatum slayed his demons to the tune of 24 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists.

All-Star guard Jaylen Brown was absent with Achilles tendinitis, so Tatum had to play 40 minutes, but it only took 16 seconds for his eight-year-old son, Deuce, to steal the spotlight.

The Prime Video broadcast panned to Deuce in the crowd during the second quarter. Deuce had just put a green Sour Patch Kid in his mouth, and his organic reaction to a particularly sour piece went viral.

“Do you see the facial reaction?” Ian Eagle said on the broadcast. “It’s sour! C’mon, Deuce, you gotta know the scouting report.”

Deuce is a fan favorite, having been by his dad’s side for his entire NBA career.

When the Celtics won the 2024 NBA Finals, photographer Nat Butler captured the now-iconic photo of Tatum hoisting his son up into a sky of green confetti. And when Tatum announced his return from his torn Achilles, Deuce wrote an essay for SLAM about watching his dad achieve an unfathomable recovery in just 298 days.

“I'm proud of my dad,” Deuce said, in part. “But I'm also so happy for my dad that he's winning games now that he's playing, and that he can keep winning games so he can get ourselves to the championship.”

This was supposed to be a down year for the Celtics, but an MVP-caliber season from Brown - and Joe Mazzulla’s defensive mind - carried the team to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference without Tatum.

Now that Tatum is back alongside Brown, the Celtics are a top-tier contender to win their second championship in three years. Boston has the third-best odds to win the 2026 NBA Finals behind the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs. Boston has the best odds of any Eastern Conference team.

Boston will wrap the regular season with two games this weekend, and the NBA playoffs will start on April 18.

2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.

This story was originally published April 10, 2026 at 7:17 PM.