BOSTON — Jayson Tatum will miss Game 2 between the Celtics and Orlando Magic on Wednesday night, the team announced ahead of tip-off. Tatum was previously listed as doubtful with a right distal radius bone bruise suffered in the fourth quarter of Game 1.
Mazzulla did not have an update on Tatum’s injury status pregame, but did offer that Tatum had taken the court at shootaround. Tatum did not go through his usual pregame warmups around 90 minutes before tip-off.
“Yesterday he was able to do a little bit with the team,” Mazzulla said. “Today, he was able to get on the court. He’ll be day-to-day. I’ll see how he is when he gets here, but I know he’s doing everything he can to put himself in a position to play. Just going to try to take it day to day.”
The pregame Tatum update echoed a similar tune to Mazzulla’s a day prior.
“He was able to do some stuff,” the Celtics head coach said at practice on Tuesday. “He was sore after the game. It’s gotten a little better today. He was able to do some on-court work, and we’ll go from there.”
X-rays immediately after the game showed there was no break, Tatum said. Charania reported that an MRI showed that the Celtics star had suffered a right distal radius bone bruise.
Tatum was not on the floor for the portion of practice that is open to the media on Tuesday
It’s unusual for Jayson Tatum to miss games
Through his 7-year tenure with the Celtics, Tatum has never missed a playoff game. This past season, Tatum played in 72 of 82 games, and the Celtics went 8-2 without him.
Also on Tuesday, ESPN’s Shams Charania said: “It’s believed to be a pain-tolerance injury, something that the Celtics will be managing day-to-day.”
Without Tatum, the Celtics could lean on minutes from backup wings Torrey Craig or Baylor Scheierman. It’s also possible they’ll simply rely on an 8-man rotation, with Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard, and Luke Kornet playing bench minutes.
Celtics-Magic game 2 tipoff is at 7pm ET.
