BOSTON — A Jayson Tatum shoulder to the head knocked LeBron James briefly out of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals Tuesday night at TD Garden.
The collision occurred in the second quarter of the Boston Celtics’ 107-94 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers and sent James to the locker room to be checked out.
After the game, James said he felt he needed to go back to “recalibrate” before returning to the court.
“It was a tough blow. Obviously incidental,” James said. “His shoulder hit me right square in the jaw. (I) just wanted to go back to the back and make sure everything was fine.”
When asked if he was checked for a concussion, he didn’t answer it with a simple yes or no:
“I was checked for multiple things and I passed them all. That’s why I was able to come back and finish the half.”
James, however, did finish the night with a triple-double, including a team-high 42 points, 21 of which were scored in the first quarter.
The 33-year-old will have three days to rest before the series shifts to Cleveland for Games 3 and 4, so there’s no reason to think he won’t be ready to go Saturday night at Quicken Loans Arena, especially since he won’t “lose sleep over” the loss.
