BOSTON — The Celtics received a message from Jayson Tatum following his Achilles surgery on Tuesday in New York, Joe Mazzulla told reporters before Game 5 against the Knicks.
The team spent the past day balancing showing compassion for Tatum through his injury with regrouping to win Game 5. Mazzulla did not share the details of Tatum’s message.
“I spoke to him in person, obviously, that night,” Mazzulla said. “Talked to him through text. He’s doing the best he can. If there’s anybody who can handle it, it’s him. He sent a message to the staff and the players today. So he’s doing better.”
The Celtics’ locker room before Wednesday’s game didn’t mirror the despondent postgame locker room in Madison Square Garden after Game 4. Al Horford greeted each and every player who entered the room with a smile.
A few of the team’s younger players, like Jordan Walsh and JD Davison, chatted demonstrably. In most ways, Monday night’s pregame atmosphere felt pretty normal.
And Payton Pritchard told CelticsBlog that, as the Celtics face elimination down 3-1 against the Knicks, the team is primarily focused on preparing for tonight’s game.
“We haven’t seen him, he’s been in New York, but he sent us a nice message talking about the game and stuff,” Pritchard said. “We gotta come out, compete and win the game for him. All we’re worried about is winning Game 5 now.”
Baylor Scheierman, the Celtics rookie who met Tatum at the Auerbach Center the day he signed his rookie contract with the Celtics, similarly echoed that the team is rallying behind Tatum.
“It’s tough seeing our leader go down,” Scheierman said. “And obviously, having it be what it’s been. You try to just be there for him, try to stay positive, even in a situation that’s tough like that. [I’m a] big believer that everything happens for a reason, and God has a plan for everything. He’s in good spirits now. And I know he’s gonna attack his recovery and come back and be exactly who he was.”
Mazzulla’s message to the team balanced empathy for their brother being in the position he’s in and the importance of the must-win Game 5 tonight.
Asked Joe Mazzulla about the emotions of the last 48 hours — and he discussed the balance caring about Jayson Tatum as a person and prepping for game:
“It’s living in both of those places & knowing that the people is most important, & the player comes second. And now we got to… pic.twitter.com/5NLV2s7M5X
— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) May 14, 2025
They have enough in the locker room to win, he stressed, drawing back on short-handed wins throughout the season. He explained they can use how much the Game 4 injury hurt to help them save their season against the Knicks.
The Knicks also sent their best wishes to Tatum on Wednesday
At shootaround on Wednesday morning, Knicks star Jalen Brunson said he felt for Jayson Tatum.
“The league needs Jayson Tatum,” Brunson said. “He still has a lot to do in his career, a lot of time to make an impact and make a name for his legacy. What he’s done is special.”
Mitchell Robinson, who missed significant parts of the 2024 and 2025 season recovering from a foot injury, said the rehab sucks.
Brunson said the Knicks’ approach doesn’t change with Tatum out: “You have to have the same mentality, same focus. They’re still the defending champions.” pic.twitter.com/C1az1bHv5V
— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) May 14, 2025
In place of Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis returned to his starting role alongside Al Horford.
But, no player can replace Tatum’s impact; the Celtics have outscored opponents by 12.09 points per 100 possessions with Tatum on the floor this season. That number fell to +0.24 when he’s off.
Mazzulla expects the team to do so collectively, as did Tom Thibodeau, who wished Tatum well before mentioning that Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and others all still defend and provide threes. Boston is 8-2 without Tatum this season, and 1-0 without him in the playoffs. Jaylen Brown led the way in Tatum’s absence in the first round vs the Orlando Magic, exploding for 36 points on 12-19 shooting alongside 10 rebounds and 5 assists.
“Something throughout this season that we’ve done is not have a full roster and be able to manage,” Mazzulla said. “And have different identities that we can play with, and so I think you have to focus on both of those. The empathetic side toward one of your players as a person, how he’s doing, how that impacts the people around us. Then there’s a tactical side of this is where we’re at, and we’ve done this and what gives us the best chance to win tonight so you try to do both of those things.”
Scheierman said that Tatum’s message to the team was uplifting. But, the Celtics would have had to be ready to go regardless.
“It’s definitely good to hear from him,” he said. “Obviously, he can feed positive energy into us. But we’re ready to go tonight, regardless.”
