Boston Celtics fans can take a deep breath after Monday’s anxiety-riddled loss to the Orlando Magic at Amway Center.
While seeing Boston’s win streak halted at nine games was bad enough, Green Teamers had to sit through an excruciating 10-minute period where the possibility of Jayson Tatum missing significant time became all too real.
After hitting a 3-pointer to give Boston a one-point lead, Tatum intentionally fouled Orlando guard Gary Harris and immediately headed toward the locker room for treatment. When he entered the game five minutes later, the Celtics trailed by 13 points.
While the deficit on the court was upsetting for C’s fans, they wound up receiving good news later on.
“I was just dealing with some pain in my stomach,” Tatum said postgame, per NBC Sports Boston. “I went to go to the back, just trying to get looked at. Just wanted to make sure I was all right, and ultimately I was and came back.”
An injury to Tatum would obviously be detrimental to the Celtics in any situation, but with Marcus Smart, Robert Williams III and Malcolm Brogdon all out of the game, and Jaylen Brown and Derrick White both dealing with nagging injuries, Monday would have been the worst possible time for a team in the middle of their season.
Luckily for the Celtics, it just ended up being a — terrifying — false alarm.
