NEW YORK — Boston Celtics star guard Jayson Tatum suffered a lower-body injury and was carried off the court during the fourth quarter o...
NEW YORK — Boston Celtics star guard Jayson Tatum suffered a lower-body injury and was carried off the court during the fourth quarter of Boston's 121-113 loss in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday night. The time he may miss is yet to be determined.
Boston is down 3-1 to the New York Knicks in the best-of-seven series and will try to avoid elimination at home on Wednesday night (7 p.m. ET, TNT).
Tatum was injured with 2:58 remaining in the fourth quarter when he tried to reach for a loose ball. He hit the court after his leg gave out in a non-contact injury and had his head in a towel as he was seen in a wheelchair in a Madison Square Garden tunnel after the game.
Tatum scored 42 points on 16-for-28 shooting, with eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks before the injury. He is averaging 26.1 points and 12.0 rebounds in the postseason and missed one previous playoff game when he sat out Game 2 in the first round against the Orlando Magic with a wrist injury. Boston won that game 109-100 behind 36 points from Jaylen Brown.
Jayson Tatum injury updates: Latest news
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said after Game 4 that his team would be up to the task in Game 5, whether the six-time All-Star guard was in the lineup or not.
"They'll be ready," Mazzulla said. "I mean, that's just who they are. It's been that way. It's the locker room that they have, and they'll be ready. So, you trust the character of the guys in moments like this, and you take it one game at a time,"
On Tatum's injury, Mazzulla offered a glimpse of a timeline on Monday night: "I talked to the medical staff, they told me it's a lower body injury and he'll get an MRI [Tuesday]," Mazzulla explained to media. "We'll see where it goes from there."
"I think everybody's concerned with Jayson," Celtics' Jaylen Brown said via CBS Sports. "I'm not sure how bad it is. Didn't look great. But I think everybody is kind of more concerned with that."
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