Jayson Tatum scored 17 points and recorded 14 rebounds in the Boston Celtics' Game 1 win over the Orlando Magic. After a hard fall in the fourth quarter, however, the superstar wing is dealing with a painful wrist injury that ESPN's Shams Charania shed light on this week.
On Tuesday, a few hours after Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said he was "day-to-day" with his sore wrist, Charania reported Tatum is dealing with a bone bruise in his wrist and his status for Wednesday's Game 2 is "somewhat up in the air."
"Sources tell me Jayson Tatum underwent an MRI on that wrist over the last 24 hours," Charania said on ESPN. "He has been diagnosed with a bone bruise in his shooting wrist. It's believed to be a pain tolerance injury, something that the Celtics will be managing day-to-day and his status is somewhat up in the air heading into Game 2."
Shortly after Charania's report, the Celtics declared Tatum doubtful for Game 2, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
Tatum is the sort of player to battle through minor ailments, having played at least 70 games in each of the last four seasons. But caution may be exercised in the playoffs, especially for a championship contender battling a much less talented opponent. How the Celtics and Tatum choose to navigate the injury is a big storyline to watch this week.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as New Details Emerge on Jayson Tatum’s Painful Injury Before Celtics-Magic Game 2.
