After the Boston Celtics' Game 4 loss to the New York Knicks, Joe Mazzulla delivered the first update on Jayson Tatum's injury, which he suffered late in the fourth quarter. "No, not yet," Mazzulla said when asked if they knew the specifics of the injury. "[We] know it's a lower body injury. He's going to get an MRI tomorrow. He's with the doctors right now."
With roughly three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Tatum went down in a heap, clutching his ankle. Jaylen Brown turned the ball over, the Knicks scored off the turnover, and Tatum went down on the play. He was helped back to the locker room by two trainers, putting no weight on the injured ankle. Replays showed that it was a non-contact injury.
Speculation running rampant on Twitter indicates that Tatum may have suffered an Achilles injury
The Celtics' concern-levels for Jayson Tatum
When asked about the ailment further, regarding his and the team's concern for Tatum, Mazzulla made sure to rope in the now-pressing Game 5 back at TD Garden, where the Celtics' season will be on the line.
"Obviously, you're always concerned about someone's health," Mazzulla said. "It's two-fold. Concerned about his health [and] where he's at and concerned about what we have to do better in Game 3 when we get back to Boston."
Jayson Tatum reacted much differently in Game 4 than with other injuries
For the most part, when Tatum gets hurt, he pops right back up. Even just a couple of months ago, after he sprained his ankle, he only missed one game (and he finished the game in which he sprained it). That didn't happen on Monday night.
"Yeah, obviously, you're always worried about someone's health, so the fact that he carried off, like you said, he's the type of guy that gets right up," Mazzulla said. "So, he didn't. We'll know tomorrow exactly what it is, but yeah, I mean, it's tough to watch a guy like him get carried off."
After the play, there was footage of Tatum being wheelchaired back to the locker room with his hands over his face.
What happened to the Celtics in Game 4?
Devastating injury aside, the Celtics blew a double-digit lead in the third quarter, and a barrage of shots from Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges earned a win for New York. Immediately, Mazzulla pointed toward the defense as a primary reason for Boston's downfall.
"I mean, tonight, we just didn't play well defensively," Mazzulla said. "We're in a hole. We're gonna get back to Boston. And we're gonna back to figure out a way to win. Knicks played great tonight. We had stretches of playing well, and they got the best of us, especially in that third quarter with their pace and their offensive execution, and I thought their pressure took us out of a lot of our actions, and took away our rhythm. And we have to fix that for next game."