Jayson Tatum dodges major injury in Celtics’ win over Kings
Boston held its collective breath on Monday night, as Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum tumbled to the court and clutched his ankle in serious pain. But postgame reporting suggests that Tatum at least has avoided a significant injury.
Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe provided key updates on Tatum after the Celtics’ 113-95 road win over the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. He reported that Tatum left the arena with “just a very slight limp,” and no crutches or boot on his left leg. Tatum was previously eating and joking around with his teammates in the locker room, per Himmelsbach, so he was apparently in good spirits.
The Celtics termed Tatum’s injury as an ankle sprain. Tatum sustained the injury as he took a shot and the Kings’ Domantas Sabonis came down in his landing space, causing him to land awkwardly. Sabonis was assessed a flagrant foul (type 1) on the play.
Tatum totaled 25 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists in 26 minutes prior to the injury. Big man Luke Kornet (13 points, 6-of-7) and rookie Baylor Scheierman (nine points, 3-of-6) picked up the minutes slack for the rest of the game.
It remains to be seen if Tatum’s injury lingers, even if just a minor sprain. The Celtics would be wise to simply rest their MVP candidate until his ankle is back to 100%. And the hope is that he’s not dealing with a high-ankle sprain, which would be more serious than your basic twisted ankle — but he probably wouldn’t have just walked out of the arena with nothing on his leg, if that were the case.
Until he’s healthy and back on the court playing at a high level, concerns will remain for Tatum. His injury situation has become the top thing to monitor for the Celtics down the stretch of the regular season.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.
