The Boston Celtics lost a critical Game 4 to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, but they may have lost something even more important in the fourth quarter of the contest.
Celtics star Jayson Tatum went down late in the final period with a right ankle injury, writhing in obvious pain after a Celtics’ turnover that led to a breakout dunk for the Knicks in transition. Team doctors helped Tatum back to the locker room, and he did not return to action.
Boston was already trailing when Tatum went down, despite the forward’s stellar performance to that point that included 42 points, eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks. The Celtics ended up losing the contest by a score of 121-113 and now stand on the brink of elimination, trailing 3-1 with the series headed back to Boston for Game 5 on Wednesday.
While it would be pure speculation at this juncture to predict whether Tatum will be ready to go 48 hours from now, as his team attempts to repeat as back-to-back NBA champions, a serious ankle sprain will render him unlikely to play considering how fast of a turnaround the team faces from Game 4 to Game 5.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla offered an update on Tatum’s injury status during his postgame press conference Monday night.
“He’s with the doctors now,” Mazzulla said. “We’ll get the MRI tomorrow and see what it is.”
The author will update this post.
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