Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is in danger of missing his first career playoff game on Wednesday night. The perennial All-NBA wing was declared doubtful for Game 2 against the Orlando Magic after hurting his wrist following a flagrant foul by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the fourth quarter of Game 1. Tatum's teammates were incensed after the play, especially Al Horford, who said on Tuesday he felt there was "something extra" behind the foul.
For his part, Caldwell-Pope had a blunt perspective on the situation: it was a "just a foul."
"Playoff basketball. That's all I gotta say on it," KCP said to Celtics reporter Bobby Manning. "This is how I've been playing in playoff basketball. A hard foul is a hard foul. I really don't care what anybody says. I'm still gonna play how I play, how I'm supposed to play for my team at the end of the day... For me, I'm going up to contest a shot. As a defender, I'm here to help stop the ball from going in the basket. Whether they thought it was a flagrant foul or a bad call or whatever it was, I just went up to block the ball."
It's easy to understand both sides here. Caldwell-Pope, an NBA champion familiar with the rigors and rules of playoff basketball, is not going to allow an easy dunk if he can help it. Tatum's teammates are never going to be happy with any player that fouls their star hard enough to send him flying to the parquet.
Above all else, the sequence and subsequent response from Boston should hammer home what the NBA world already knew going into this series: it's going to be very, very physical. Game 2 will likely prove as much comes tip at 7 p.m. ET.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Had Blunt View on Hard Foul That Led to Jayson Tatum Injury.
