Jayson Tatum has only been back on the court for seven-plus weeks but the Boston Celtics star is making a stellar impact.

While putting last May’s devastating ruptured right Achilles tendon further in the rearview mirror, Tatum’s comeback story is reading superbly. He will look to help Boston take a 3-1 series lead when it visits the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night in Eastern Conference first-round play.

Tatum drained five 3-pointers and recorded 25 points, seven assists and five rebounds as the Celtics notched a 108-100 road win on Friday. It was his second 25-point outing of the series.

Tatum didn’t make his season debut until March 6 but quickly displayed he would be an asset in the playoffs.

He finished the regular season with seven straight appearances of 23 or more points. He delivered one triple-double and four other double-doubles during the stretch to establish he would be a difference-maker in the postseason.

Also Friday, Tatum became the fourth player in Celtics history to top 3,000 career postseason points. Tatum (3,005) trails three legends — Kevin McHale (3,182), John Havlicek (3,776) and leader Larry Bird (3,897).

“I can’t stress it enough that the fact that I get to put my uniform on and run out with the team, it’s a win for me,” Tatum said. “Obviously, I’m not 100% yet and will not be, but expectations of what people want me to do is the last thing that has crossed my mind.

“The amount of joy I have been able to find just being back out there and being out there with my teammates is all I could think about.”

Co-star Jaylen Brown, who carried the team while Tatum was sidelined, is impressed with Tatum’s progress.

“He’s been incrementally getting better and stronger and getting more physical,” said Brown, who also scored 25 points in Game 3. “You can see he’s getting downhill at a higher level than he did when he started. But we do it as a team. We win as a team and lose as a team. So in those moments, I got nothing but trust for Jayson Tatum.”

Sunday’s contest is a big one for the 76ers as a split through four games would be significantly better than facing a possible Game 5 elimination game in Boston.

What would really help is if star center Joel Embiid is available, but the team listed the former MVP as doubtful on their Saturday injury report.

Embiid underwent an appendectomy on April 9. He was also listed as doubtful for Friday’s game before being ruled out.

Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse said that Embiid did on-court work Saturday and will be evaluated after Sunday’s shootaround.

Forward Kelly Oubre Jr. (right adductor) is questionable.

Philadelphia star guard Tyrese Maxey scored 31 points in the Game 3 setback and made five 3-pointers for the second straight game. He felt the game got away from his squad.

“We always focus on what you could do better,” Maxey said. “… Got to get one (Sunday), got to protect home court and even the series.”

Maxey is averaging 27.0 points and 7.7 assists in the series.

The 76ers allowed more 3-pointers (20) than 2-point baskets (16) in Game 3, and Nurse said his team needs to make things tougher for Boston from outside the arc.

“They had five made off offensive rebounds and that’s not good, right?” Nurse said. “They made a lot of tough ones. … We’re going to have to be a lot better. It has to start with pressure.”

–Field Level Media

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo was ruled out after injuring his lower right leg in the first quarter of Saturday’s game against the Denver Nuggets.

DiVincenzo sustained the injury on a non-contact play. He planted his foot to go toward a loose ball, and he quickly went down as he grabbed toward the back of his right leg.

The team ruled out DiVincenzo before the end of the first quarter.

DiVincenzo averaged 12.2 points per game and shot 37.9% from 3-point range during the regular season. He averaged 14.3 points in the first three games of the playoff series against the Nuggets.

-Field Level Media

The Edmonton Oilers need to repeat history. Again.

The Oilers are looking to kick off yet another series comeback when they continue their Western Conference first-round playoff series on the road against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.

During runs to the Stanley Cup final in each of the past two springs, the Oilers have erased a handful of series deficits. They were down 2-0 to the Los Angeles Kings last year before rallying to win the opening-round series. Edmonton also won series after trailing 2-1 against both the Vancouver Canucks and the Dallas Stars in 2024 and the Kings the year before that ahead of a second-round exit.

Therefore, trailing the Ducks by a 2-1 margin is not uncharted waters for the core group which boasts plenty of playoff experience.

“There’s a lot of hockey left to be played, right?” Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “The momentum shifts, the swings, we’ve all been through it in here. So lean on that, take a deep breath and know that the sun’s going to come up tomorrow. We’ve got a big game coming.”

That said, Edmonton also must start playing better defensively. Anaheim has racked up 13 goals over the past two games, including a 7-4 throttling on Friday.

Run-and-gun hockey may be more entertaining and fun, but the Oilers learned over their past couple of years that it does not lead to success. Plus, the younger Ducks are beating them at that game.

Whether the Oilers make a goaltending change and turn to Tristan Jarry over Connor Ingram remains to be seen, but their struggles are not all on the netminder.

“Any time you let in seven, it’s not a goalie problem,” forward Zach Hyman said. “It’s just defending better. You’re not going to win. We didn’t give ourselves a chance with the amount of goals we gave up.”

The Ducks are flying high in more ways than one.

Not only is the young, up-and-coming team ahead in the series in its first trip to the playoffs since 2018 and igniting the rush among the fans, but the Ducks also are excelling with an exciting brand of hockey.

They have scored six or more goals in consecutive playoff games for the first time in franchise history, and the seven markers last outing is a franchise record for the postseason.

Even more exciting for their long-term future is that the young guns are firing on all cylinders.

Beckett Sennecke and Leo Carlsson scored 42 seconds apart in the third period to break open Friday’s game.

“Hopefully, they turn out to be great players because they’ve shown all the ingredients,” said Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville, who has guided more than a few young players into champions. “They want to be the best they can be on a daily basis, and I think that kind of pushes them and they’re showing that’s their mindset and that’s their objective.”

Anaheim has netted four power-play goals on eight chances in the series. The Ducks may not yet have their defensive game perfected, but it’s worth noting the Oilers failed to register even one shot on goal in the final 11:24 after making it a one-goal game.

And now the Ducks have the extra confidence of knowing they can beat the Oilers.

“I think we got an exciting team,” Sennecke said. “We can score goals, we can defend and we’re dangerous.”

–Field Level Media