It looked bad when it happened. Very bad. Jayson Tatum went up for a dunk and was fouled in the air by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (who was given a flagrant foul on the play), and Tatum came down on his wrist to break the fall. Tatum stayed on the ground for a few minutes, grabbing his wrist, but continued to play in the Celtics’ win.
Now comes word that Tatum is officially listed as doubtful for Game 2 due to a bone bruise in his right wrist. This is reportedly a pain tolerance issue that the Celtics will monitor, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.
After Sunday’s game, Tatum played down the injury saying he had an X-ray and it came back clean. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said Tuesday that Tatum was “day to day.”
Tatum played through a fractured wrist for part of the 2022 playoffs and likely will miss little, if any, time in this series. That said, the Celtics’ medical staff may want to save Tatum from himself a little, they are going to need him at his peak in the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals if they are going to repeat as champions.
Boston is up 1-0 in what will be a physical series with the Orlando Magic, one that the Celtics should win but will not be a pushover. Boston now has more motivation to get this series over quickly — and hope the Knicks/Pistons series drags out — so that Tatum can get extra rest.
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