In their first playoff game, the Celtics were on the verge of victory when one of their star players suffered a serious injury.
With less than a minute remaining, Jayson Tatum—who had just recorded his first triple-double of the playoffs—was trying for a rebound when he collided with Miami’s Caleb Martin, collapsing to the ground at TD Garden.
After the accident, he said he was alright physically and got up fast because the team wanted to avoid losing focus in the postseason, which they had trouble with against Miami the previous year.
In the first-round playoff game, Tatum converted two clutch free throws to help seal the victory, 114-94.
“Knowing that basketball is in the postseason. It’s aggressive, particularly when playing a formidable team like Miami. That kind of thing is going to happen, Tatum stated. “I was not injured by the blow. We were in the bonus when we just woke up. proceeded to make the free throws.
Martin stated that Tatum was not intended to be harmed. “I attempted to raise him. I heard him fall to the ground. Martin clarified, “I know I hit him hard, but momentum carried me.” “I would have acted in the same way if Jimmy Butler had been on the floor.”
When Tatum went down, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla didn’t panic. I was interested to watch his reaction. Mazzulla remarked, “I thought the piece was interesting overall. “Watching it was enjoyable.”
