Jayson Tatum speaks out on first-round battle with Paolo Banchero as Boston Celtics clinch 1st-round series, ‘I couldn’t be…’

Jayson Tatum relishes chance to go against Paolo Banchero

Although they emerged bruised and battered, the Celtics savored the experience they gained from the young and gutsy Magic squad.

Besides making a historic milestone, no Celtic seemed to enjoy the series more than Jayson Tatum, as it gave him an opportunity to go toe-to-toe against Paolo Banchero.

After they conquered the Play-In Tournament, the young Magic superstar also expressed enthusiasm of going up against Tatum, who he considers as his close brother both and off the court.

The two share similarities in terms of their basketball position and play style. They were also a proud collegiate basketball product of the Duke Blue Devils.

In his postgame presser, Tatum offered his flowers for the impressive growth and stand that the 22-year-old presented against him throughout the 2025 postseason.

“I mean, it’s cool,” Tatum said. “I got to talk to him a little bit in the hallway after the game. I didn’t say two words to him during the series.

“That’s tough. But that’s part of competing—just trying to have that edge throughout the series.

“I couldn’t be happier for him and the player that he’s become. From Duke and year after year, he was unbelievable this series.”

Tatum can’t wait for more battles to come between him and Banchero

Despite being heavily decimated from injuries headlined by Jalen Suggs, the Magic demonstrated a commendable fight against the reigning champs behind the leadership of Banchero.

In the entire five-game series, the Orlando forward strongly averaged 29.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists across 39.4 minutes to carry the Magic. He also tallied an efficient 44.4 percent rate from the three-point distance.

What he showed against the Celtics was convincing for former NBA star Matt Barnes to call him one of the league’s future faces.

He might have gotten him in this year’s playoffs, but Tatum is pretty much confident that there are still a lot more battles to come between him and Banchero.

“He made it tough on us. He’s a matchup nightmare and he’s only going to continue to get better and better,” Tatum added.

“I’m certain that we’ll have many more battles in the upcoming years.”