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Jayson Tatum missed his first career playoff game on Wednesday night in the Celtics’ 109-100 Game 2 win against the Magic. His return to the floor remains an open question after he suffered a bone bruise in his right wrist after a hard fall in Game 1.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was guarded after Boston’s Game 2 win about his star, dodging questions about his status and not even acknowledging when he knew Tatum would not be able to suit up for Game 2. However, in an appearance with Zolak and Bertrand on 98.5 the Sports Hub Thursday, Mazzulla was more forthcoming about his condition, including a new description of Tatum’s injury.
“There will definitely be a chance,” Mazzulla said of his Game 3 availability. “He’s dealing with a severe bone bruise. He’s day-to-day and he’s progressively gotten better each day. Yesterday, he went through all the protocols and did everything you should possibly do up to the last moment to try to play. He just wasn’t able to do it but he’ll go back at it again today and he’s in that day-to-day process right now.”
That was the first time that Mazzulla described the bone bruise as severe, which helps explain why Tatum was unavailable for Game 2. The All-Star had played 114 consecutive playoff games since his rookie year before he was sidelined Wednesday night.
Tatum initially played through the injury in the fourth quarter of Game 1 after a flagrant foul by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope caused a hard fall on his wrist. However, the condition worsened enough for Game 2 where the team sensed as early as Tuesday that he would be unable to suit up.
Mazzulla remains confident in Tatum’s ability to recover from the painful injury, but with the Celtics holding a commanding 2-0 lead over Orlando, the team could elect to give Tatum more time to heal with a long playoff grind ahead.
“At the end of the day, I know he’ll do whatever it takes to put himself in position to play and put our team in position to win,” Mazzulla said. “That’s just who he is and we just trust in that.”
The Celtics will face the Magic in Game 3 at Kia Center on Friday night.
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Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was guarded after Boston’s Game 2 win about his star, dodging questions about his status and not even acknowledging when he knew Tatum would not be able to suit up for Game 2. However, in an appearance with Zolak and Bertrand on 98.5 the Sports Hub Thursday, Mazzulla was more forthcoming about his condition, including a new description of Tatum’s injury.
“There will definitely be a chance,” Mazzulla said of his Game 3 availability. “He’s dealing with a severe bone bruise. He’s day-to-day and he’s progressively gotten better each day. Yesterday, he went through all the protocols and did everything you should possibly do up to the last moment to try to play. He just wasn’t able to do it but he’ll go back at it again today and he’s in that day-to-day process right now.”
That was the first time that Mazzulla described the bone bruise as severe, which helps explain why Tatum was unavailable for Game 2. The All-Star had played 114 consecutive playoff games since his rookie year before he was sidelined Wednesday night.
Tatum initially played through the injury in the fourth quarter of Game 1 after a flagrant foul by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope caused a hard fall on his wrist. However, the condition worsened enough for Game 2 where the team sensed as early as Tuesday that he would be unable to suit up.
Mazzulla remains confident in Tatum’s ability to recover from the painful injury, but with the Celtics holding a commanding 2-0 lead over Orlando, the team could elect to give Tatum more time to heal with a long playoff grind ahead.
“At the end of the day, I know he’ll do whatever it takes to put himself in position to play and put our team in position to win,” Mazzulla said. “That’s just who he is and we just trust in that.”
The Celtics will face the Magic in Game 3 at Kia Center on Friday night.
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