The TD Garden crowd gasped en masse when Jason Tatum He came down grabbing his shoulder late in the final quarter of Game 3 against the Miami Heat. The Boston Celtics star appeared to be in excruciating pain before heading out into the locker room.
Smart is back as Pierce after being kicked out of Game 3 due to injury
Fortunately for C, Tatum was able to shake off the injury and return to court minutes later. Head coach Aimee Odoka rated Tatum’s injury as stinging, which is much more encouraging than it initially seemed.
Tatum explained what happened in the play and why he briefly left the field.
“My neck got stuck in a weird position,” Tatum said. “Obviously I got off. I had some pain and discomfort in my neck and down my arms. I went and got a checkup. I started getting some feeling back, got it checked out by the doctors and decided to give it a try.”
It looks like Tatum won’t have to worry about losing time, so this obviously bodes well for Boston’s chances of progressing to the NBA Finals. For that to happen, the 24-year-old would have to step up for the remainder of the series against Miami.
Match 3 was his worst post-season game so far as he scored just 10 points while shooting 3 of 14 from the ground. Flip the ball six times.
Game 4 on Mondays at 8:30 p.m. ET. The Celtics will be looking forward to Series 2-2 in front of the TD Garden crowd.
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