Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers left TD Garden on Tuesday night with the Boston Celtics handing them their first loss of the season.
Mitchell also got a good shot to the face thanks to Jayson Tatum to go along with the defeat.
Tatum committed a hard foul on Mitchell as the Cavaliers star accelerated into the front court with the ball in his hands in the final seconds. After Mitchell used a pick to get away from Jrue Holiday, Tatum aggressively went for a steal, but ended up colliding with Mitchell and knocked him to the floor. Mitchell stayed down for a little bit and his mouth was bloodied by the blow he took from the Celtics forward.
The referees decided not to review the play for a possible flagrant foul and Mitchell, who could have drummed up what happened, downplayed the incident following Boston’s 120-117 win.
“I thought it was worse than what it was,” Mitchell told reporters, per CLNS Media. “I just watched it. It was just a reach-in foul. I just happened to hit a part of his body and it hurt. But I thought it was worse in the moment. … It was just a basketball play.”
Mitchell, who finished with a game-high 35 points on 13-of-29 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds with three assists, certainly doesn’t hold any bad blood toward Tatum for what happened.
“I’m good. He got me here (side of the face) and I was just praying to God I didn’t have a concussion. That’s my only thing,” Mitchell said. “But like I said, it was a play on the ball. He’s got bony shoulders, so I hit his shoulder and it is what it is.”
