The Celtics season got off to a dramatic start on Wednesday night with a tough finish against the 76ers . How Joe Mazzulla manages this new-look group through a challenging stretch will be telling amid a tough upcoming schedule. Let’s talk a bit about the present and future in this week’s mailbag. Send all future questions to brobb@masslive.com

Brian,

I think everyone is underestimating how quickly Tatum might come back. We know three things: 1) he wants to come back this season 2) he wants to do it at a home game 3) he said that he has a date in mind. Let’s infer what that date is from what we know of Tatum. Kobe Bryant was his idol growing up. Bryant came back 240 days after tearing his Achilles. I would imagine Tatum wants to match or exceed that. If so, Boston vs. Denver

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