The Boston Celtics traveled to the Midwest on Wednesday night for a rematch of the Eastern Conference finals. They entered the game with a 4-0 record, and the Pacers walked in with a 1-3 record through their first four contests. However, Indiana came to play, and after a brutal first three quarters for Boston, their late comeback attempt wasn’t enough.
Boston lost their first game of the season, as the Pacers earned a 135-132 overtime victory. But amidst all the chaos of the fourth quarter and overtime (of which there was plenty), Jayson Tatum got hurt. For a brief moment in the first quarter, Boston held their breath as Tatum grabbed his face and upper body.
But he seems to be all right now.
Jayson Tatum shares injury update after Celtics vs. Pacers
After the game, Tatum provided an update on the ailment, as well as a detailed account of what occurred on the play.
"Came across and hit my head,” Tatum said via Jay King of The Athletic. “The way it jerked kind of just shot down my neck and my arm was tingling. And I was in some pain for a little bit and it went away."
As Boston dove to the rim to corral a pass from Jrue Holiday, he had to extend his arm well above his head. Andrew Nembhard helped over from the corner, and as Tatum failed to snag the ball, his body crashed into Tatum’s head.
Tatum’s head jolted to the side, and it was clear that he was in some pain.
The Celtics star didn’t get back on defense the next play, and Joe Mazzulla had to call a timeout so Tatum could get checked out by trainers and compose himself.
Despite the discomfort, Tatum stayed in the game after the timeout, so the issue never looked too serious. That said, Tatum’s recount of the incident makes it seem as though he was still feeling it, even once play resumed.
Luckily, he also noted that the pain went away eventually, so it doesn’t seem as though Tatum will be injured moving forward. However, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him pop up on the injury report as a mere precaution.
Tatum doesn’t like missing games, so even if he does end up on the injury report, he’ll probably still play.
And based on the way he was speaking about the injury, it sounds as though any issue he was dealing with as a result of the play has mostly subsided.
