Celtics’ Jayson Tatum BREAKS SILENCE on Wrist Injury—Star Reveals SHOCKING Details About Severity!
Jayson Tatum provided some good news about his scary fall.
BOSTON — TD Garden held its breath as
Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum writhed on the floor after a hard foul from Orlando Magic wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. However, following the Celtics’ 103-86 win in Game 1 of the first round on Sunday afternoon, Tatum revealed that he’s doing just fine.
The six-time All-Star told the media that the X-ray on his wrist came back “clean.” He injured it with just under 8:30 to go in the fourth quarter on a promising run to the basket that briefly seemed open. Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope did their best to cut off Tatum’s driving lane by meeting him at the rim with a lot of force.
Jayson Tatum stayed down for an extended period of time after falling hard on his right wrist 😬
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was given a flagrant foul for the play…
Good or bad call? 👀pic.twitter.com/cJ8BgqsTEI
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 20, 2025
Caldwell-Pope’s heavy contact resulted in a flagrant 1 foul. The collision sent Tatum to the ground, causing him to awkwardly land on his right wrist. This is the second year in a row that the St. Louis native was the recipient of a hard foul in the fourth quarter of a Game 1 victory, as former Heat forward Caleb Martin upended Tatum last year while they were going up for a rebound.
“It’s alright,” Tatum replied in his postgame press conference when asked about his wrist. “I just landed on it and it was throbbing for a second. It kind of went away.”
Tatum, perhaps spurred on by “MVP” chants from the home crowd, recovered from his fall and didn’t leave the game until there was just 1:26 remaining. He finished with 17 points on a rough shooting performance, missing 14 of his 22 attempts from the field. Yet, he still managed to grab a game-high 14 rebounds and have the highest plus-minus rating (plus-23) of any player.
“Probably didn’t play the efficient offensive game that he [would’ve] liked, but I thought by his poise, you couldn’t tell that,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said of Tatum’s performance in Game 1. “That never got in the way of his defense and his physicality and his rebounding. That’s the most important thing.”
Boston needed that resilient approach from Tatum because it let a double-digit lead slip away in the first half and couldn’t afford to have its star be distracted by an inefficient outing. The Celtics trailed the seventh-seeded Magic 49-48 at halftime before unleashing their championship experience in the final 24 minutes of the contest.
After failing to record a single point or assist in the first half, Celtics guard Jrue Holiday contributed nine points and five assists in the last two quarters. Boston outscored Orlando 55-37 in the second half and used its opponent’s eight turnovers during that stretch as offensive fuel. From the Magic’s miscues, the Celtics were able to get out in transition and garner 26 fastbreak points to the Magic’s four. Boston’s work on the run outscored Orlando’s bench, which put up a mere 17 points on 18 shots altogether.
Jayson Tatum was showered in ‘MVP’ chants from the Celtics fans as he eventually got up from the hard fall 👏
Hope he’s okay 🙏
(via @danield1214) https://t.co/WzYZKIYrgL pic.twitter.com/Z8vHwGljj1
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 20, 2025
As for the Celtics’ bench, point guard Payton Pritchard notched a playoff career-high 19 points in his 25 minutes off the pine. Given these numbers, it’s no surprise the fifth-year Celtic was officially named a finalist for Sixth Man of the Year.
“The best gift that we’ve got as a team is our flexibility and versatility,” Mazzulla commented. “We’re going to use our entire roster and the versatility of that and do what gives us the best chance to win.”
Jrue Holiday. Absolute DAWG 😤
Celtics come out SWINGING in the 2H 🔥 pic.twitter.com/jrRUbS2Bvb
— NBA TV (@NBATV) April 20, 2025
Everywhere the Celtics looked, they were getting production. In contrast, 59 of the Magic’s 86 points were scored by two players, forward Franz Wagner and 2024 All-Star Paolo Banchero. If Orlando wants to compete with the reigning champs, it’ll have to clean up its turnovers and give more of an all-around effort.
The Celtics have now won six of their last seven playoff openers and are 1-0 to start the first round for the fourth straight postseason. They’ll look to keep that momentum going at home during Game 2 against the Magic on Wednesday night.
