Celtics Star Jayson Tatum To Miss Matchup Vs. Kings Due To Injury

The Boston Celtics will look to quickly bounce back from a stinging overtime defeat to the Golden State Warriors, but they will have to do so without star forward Jayson Tatum.

The Celtics announced that Tatum will miss Wednesday's road matchup against the Sacramento Kings due to a left ankle sprain he sustained in the loss to the Warriors. It's the first game Tatum will miss this season.

Tatum suffered the injury early in the first quarter when he stepped on the foot of Warrior guard Brandin Podziemski. Tatum hobbled back to the locker room, but did return and ended up playing 41 minutes. The four-time All-Star was clearly impacted by the ankle injury, though. He shot just 5-for-17 from the field, including 2-for-9 from 3-point range.

"When you sprain your ankle, you're not 100%," Tatum told reporters, per MassLive's Souichi Terada. "So you gotta figure out other ways of what you can do or what feels more comfortable out there. You can't move how you want to. You still try to figure out other ways to be effective."

It's unclear if Tatum's ailment will sideline him for more than just a game on a marquee West Coast road trip, which wraps with a Christmas Day showdown against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics will have two days off before facing the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, but giving Tatum enough time to rest his injured ankle should be of the utmost importance to the Celtics.

The Celtics won't just be without Tatum for their tilt against the Kings. Unsurprisingly, Al Horford won't play due to rest -- he hasn't played in back-to-backs for the last season-plus -- and Luke Kornet will miss his fifth straight game due to a left adductor strain.

Horford and Kornet being out will leave the Celtics thin in the front court, but they will get Kristaps Porzingis back, who sat out against the Warriors.