PHOENIX — Jayson Tatum is as expected on the Celtics injury report as they face the Suns at 10 p.m. Wednesday at Footprint Center. Tatum is listed as doubtful after suffering a left ankle sprain against the Kings on Monday.
As of now, it doesn’t sound like too serious an injury. Tatum told ESPN that he was “just sore” though they’re “going to be cautious” with his ankle. With the playoffs less than a month away, the Celtics are going to make sure Tatum is fine going forward without anything slowing him down. His doubtful designation is also a relatively positive sign instead of being automatically ruled out for Wednesday’s game.
“He seems to be doing ok,” Mazzulla said postgame Monday. “He’s just icing it right now. I didn’t see the play but they made the right call, flagrant foul. We were fortunate he was able to shoot the free throw. He’s taking care of it right now.”
Elsewhere on the Celtics injury report, Xavier Tillman remains out with left knee joint sprain. But otherwise, the C’s have a clean injury report, so they will have the majority of their rotation when they face the Suns.
Tatum suffered the injury midway through the third quarter Monday, forcing him to leave the game early. Domantas Sabonis closed out on Tatum’s 3-pointer, leading to Tatum hurting his ankle as he didn’t have landing space. Tatum was on the ground for a minute before slowly walking back to the Celtics bench. He stayed in the game to shoot a couple free throws but then left to go to the locker room afterwards. Sabonis was apologetic after the game for his flagrant foul, saying he felt horrible.
The Celtics are currently on a six-game win streak to push their record to 53-19. They’re in the middle of a six-game road trip where they’ve won their first three games, all by double-digits. Next up are the Suns, who are on a four-game win streak and fighting for play-in positioning.
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