Brad Stevens expects Jayson Tatum to make his return vs Bulls Monday

While he won’t be playing in the Boston Celtics’ Sunday evening game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens shared some heartening news about the availability of All-NBA small forward Jayson Tatum.

The Duke product has been out in an extended absence after testing positive for COVID-19 without exhibiting any symptoms after Boston’s Jan. 8 contest with the Washington Wizards, recently beginning to ramp up his activity after the multi-week absence in the NBA’s health and safety protocols. In Sunday’s pregame media availability session, Stevens revealed he expects Tatum to return to action as soon as Monday’s game against the Chicago Bulls.

“He’s not playing today obviously,” offered the Celtics coach, who noted he had “worked out really hard yesterday,” getting in on some five-on-five action in practice.

For many fans, Tatum’s return can’t come soon enough with the team currently on a three-game losing streak after climbing to the top of the East standings with the Missouri native early in the season.