It’s the playoffs. Some of us (myself included (or maybe it’s only me)) forget how much health matters once they start. I always manage to remember that it’s important for teams to be in tip-top shape at the end of the regular season rather than the beginning. I understand the importance of rest and management. Why certain injury timetables fall a certain way. When the postseason comes, hopefully you got the whole squad ready to go. That is the goal.
Or you miss the postseason entirely. Like the Wizards did.
Anyway, we knew going in that the Magic were going to be without two pretty key players in Jalen Suggs and Mo Wagner. And here’s the thing. I always forget that injuries can happen during the postseason too. Like, those games also happen, and people get hurt then too.
For example, this is what happened in Game 1 of the Boston Celtics vs. Orlando Magic series:
He continued to play in that game, but with later evaluations in mind, that may not have been the best thing.
So what does the injury report say today about Jayson Tatum?
Well, Jayson Tatum is listed as doubtful on the latest NBA Injury Report with a Right Distal Radius Bone Bruise. I don’t know what that is, but I doubt I could play in an NBA game with one because I’m already very bad at basketball, and this would just make me worse.
This, uh, sucks for the Celtics. At the very least, it’s not good news. Every game matters in the playoffs, and sometimes even the absence of a bench player can make the difference. Jayson Tatum is leagues above that. The dude is constantly in MVP talks. Missing him would be bad. And an impaired version of him wouldn’t be great, either.
Though, it is worth saying that people play through more pain in the playoffs, and some of the most memorable playoff performances have come through injury or illness. Can’t think of any offhand. And it’s also worth saying that the Celtics probably are still a good deal better than the Magic even without Tatum. They’d have to rely on bench players other than Al Horford and the new Sixth Man of the Year a bit more, but I’d still take them in a series.
But who knows. The only real way to know how bad the injury is by seeing whether he plays and if he’s impaired if he does. There’s a little extra hope for the Magic here, though. If they could sneak a win in Boston, that’d be pretty neat.