Jaylen Brown Injured After Colliding With Jayson Tatum Late In Celtics' Loss To Blazers
BOSTON (CBS) -- A fairly competitive and enjoyable game against the Blazers turned into a horror show for the Boston Celtics in the final minutes on Sunday night. Not only did Boston lose the game, but there is some major concern for Jaylen Brown after the C's guard limped off the floor following a collision with fellow All-Star Jayson Tatum with 40.4 seconds left in the game.
Brown, who nearly didn't play because of right ankle pain, made things a lot worse when he and Tatum collided while trying to set a trap on Portland's Norman Powell. Both went down in a heap, and when Brown was finally able to get up, he couldn't put any weight on his right leg. He was in clear pain and let out a furious yell as he hopped from the court to the locker room.
Tatum left the floor under his own power, and both players were looked at by team doctors after the game. Celtics head coach Brad Stevens didn't have much of an update on his two stars following Boston's 129-119 loss, saying the team would know more on Tuesday when they return to practice.
The Celtics have the next two nights off, and are scheduled to practice on Tuesday. Stevens said that there wasn't any swelling in Brown's ankle on after the game, but admitted that could come overnight Sunday.
Tatum spoke with reporters after the loss and said that he was OK following the collision.
"We just collided and he stepped on my foot and he fell on my leg. But I should be all right," Tatum said. "We'll see how I feel tomorrow, but should be OK.
"I was able to walk off the court by myself, so that's a good sign," added Tatum. "I hope [Jaylen] is all right."
Brown scored 16 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in his 35 minutes of action Sunday night. In February, Celtics president of basketball ops. Danny Ainge announced that Brown was dealing with tendinitis in his knee, something the team would have to monitor throughout the season.
While the injury to Brown is the big concern at the moment, the loss to Portland dropped Boston into the seven-seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture with just seven games remaining on the season. The Celtics are now a game back of the Heat and the Hawks, and would be in the play-in tournament if the playoffs started today.