C's Tatum: X-ray on wrist negative after hard fall
Written by I Dig Sports
BOSTON -- Boston Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum said a postgame X-ray on his right wrist was "clean" and that he was "all right" after a hard fall on that wrist during his team's 103-86 playoff-opening win against the Orlando Magic on Sunday at TD Garden.
Tatum, who finished with 17 points on 8-of-22 shooting in nearly 40 minutes, appeared to injure his right wrist with 8:28 remaining in the fourth quarter on a driving dunk attempt at the rim when he was met by two Magic defenders, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Wendell Carter Jr.
Caldwell-Pope and Carter collided mid-air with Tatum, sending Tatum to the ground. He appeared to land on his right wrist.
Tatum immediately grabbed his wrist, wincing in pain as he stayed on the ground. After a review, the initial call of a personal foul on Caldwell-Pope was upgraded to a flagrant foul.
Tatum stayed in the game but missed the ensuing two free throws. He appeared to be favoring his wrist, which he flexed and held after walking off the court in the final seconds as the second-seeded Celtics closed out Game 1 of their first-round series against the seventh-seeded Magic.
"It's all right," Tatum said after. "Just fell on it, landed on it."
He added, "It was throbbing for a second. Kind of went away."
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla simply said that Tatum was "doing good" after the game and didn't seem to be concerned about Tatum's availability moving forward.
Though Tatum had an off-shooting game of sorts by his standards (including going 1-of-8 from 3-point range), he grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds, and the Celtics were buoyed by strong performances from throughout the roster.
Starting guard Derrick White made seven 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 30 points.
Payton Pritchard, the frontrunner for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award, scored 19 points off the Boston bench.
And the defending champion Celtics rebounded with a strong second half, building a 19-point lead at one point, after trailing by one at halftime against a Magic team that was led by a game-high 36 points from Paolo Banchero.
"I think that's what makes us so dangerous, that we just have a really well-balanced team," Tatum said. "And guys step up and it can be different guys on any night. And everybody else just kind of figures out their part to make sure we win."
Celtics All-Star swingman Jaylen Brown added 16 points in nearly 30 minutes in his first game back after missing the final three games of the regular season with a bone bruise in his right knee. Brown, who added a driving two-handed dunk late in the third quarter, seemed to move well in his first game in nearly two weeks.
"I felt good today," Brown said of his knee. "To start the game, it took me a little bit to get into the game. I feel like I was watching a little bit to start. Second half, I was able to get more involved, make some plays, have some better activities."
The Celtics will face the Magic in Game 2 on Wednesday in Boston.