The Boston Celtics clearly haven’t looked good over the last month.

They have already achieved their home defeats from the championship season and have not been able to achieve their identity. The Celtics ended the calendar year with an inconsistent 3-3 result. This prepared us for a difficult road trip at the beginning of 2025.

Tatum, without Kristaps Porzingis and Jaylen Brown, was enough for the Celtics with 33 points in a 118-115 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves to take a 1-0 lead on the year.

“We’ve had a tough stretch the last eight or nine games,” Tatum told TNT’s Allie LaForce after the game. “This January we are trying to turn things around and return to our identity. What better way to go out there in a difficult environment against a really good team made up of the best players? The way we responded and found a way to win, you can take that every day.”

The schedule doesn’t get any easier for Boston as the Celtics face back-to-back Western Conference rivals the Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets. It’s a tough gauntlet, but it’s the perfect opportunity for the Celtics to re-establish their league-wide dominance and re-establish their level by the start of 2025.

“Take it game by game,” Tatum added. “I love the way we competed, our physicality was on point tonight. That’s what it’s going to take.”