Jayson Tatum immediately hobbled back to the locker room.
An injury to Jayson Tatum interrupted the Boston Celtics’ strong start against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. The Celtics superstar twisted his left left ankle while stepping on Brandin Podziemski’s foot early in the first quarter and immediately hobbled back to the locker room at Chase Center.
No immediate updates were available on Tatum’s status. Late in the first quarter, however, he returned to the bench and Boston announced that he was probable to return.
Jayson Tatum is averaging 27.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, shooting a career-high 58.5% on two-pointers. Though lagging behind top-tier contenders like Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic in MVP consideration, Tatum once again has a strong case to be named First Team All-NBA this season—a distinction he earned in both 2022-23 and 2021-22.
The Celtics have been arguably the best team in the NBA so far, with a 20-5 record entering Tuesday’s action. Their +9.0 net rating ranks second behind the rival Philadelphia 76ers’, per NBA.com/stats. Boston and Philadelphia are the only teams in the league to be top-six in both offensive and defensive rating.
Both the Celtics and Warriors made major changes over the offseason after disappointing campaigns following their matchup in the 2022 NBA Finals. Boston swapped Marcus Smart for Kristaps Porzingis in June, then rocked the NBA world three months later by trading for Jrue Holiday. Golden State, meanwhile, parted ways with Jordan Poole to bring in Chris Paul and re-stocked its bench with proven veterans and experienced rookies.
Porzingis isn’t playing on Tuesday due to injury management of his calf, but his acquisition has been an unmitigated success for Boston. Holiday has made his typical impact with the Celtics, too. But the Warriors’ moves haven’t paid similar dividends, Steve Kerr recently forced to adjust his rotation amid a topsy-turvy start to the 82-game grind highlighted by Draymond Green’s multiple suspension.s
Leave a Reply