Jayson Tatum suffers ankle injury as Boston Celtics beat Kings in Sacramento
Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum appears to have avoided a serious injury after he hurt his ankle in a road win against the Sacramento Kings late Monday night.
Tatum was leading the Celtics in scoring when he got hurt.
Jayson Tatum's ankle injury
The six-time All-Star made a contested 3-pointer and was fouled by Kings 6-foot-11 center Domantas Sabonis, who was called for a Flagrant 1 foul. Tatum's left foot landed on Sabonis' foot and the veteran forward immediately dropped to the floor.
After the game, Tatum told ESPN's Ramona Shelburne his ankle is "just sore." He added that the team is "going to be cautious" with the injury.
"He seems to be doing OK," Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla said after the game. "I didn't see the play but they made the right call. Fortunate that he was able to shoot the free throws. (He's) taking care of it right now.
Tatum remained down for several moments while being examined by Celtics' staff. He was helped to the bench then returned to make one of two free throws to give the Celtics a 79-68 lead with 3:35 left in the third. He then left for the locker room.
After the game Tatum, who finished with 25 points, limped gingerly through the Celtics locker room but was not made available to reporters.
"I literally just asked him how he was doing and he said, 'OK,'" Mazzulla said. "He'll do anything and everything to make sure he gets better."
The Celtics went on to beat the Kings, 113-95. Boston is essentially locked into the number two seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. They'll play in Phoenix Wednesday night.
