Jayson Tatum will be back in the Celtics lineup for Saturday’s game against the Spurs after a one-game absence due to a sprained ankle. The All-Star forward was removed entirely from the injury report for the matchup five days after spraining his ankle in a win over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.
Tatum’s recovery had clearly been trending in the right direction since suffering the injury. He surprisingly took part in Boston’s shootaround on Wednesday in Phoenix. The team ultimately upgraded him to questionable for the Suns matchup before he was ruled out before tip. The Celtics still cruised to a 30-point win without him over the Suns.
Although Tatum will be back Saturday, the Celtics still have a couple of names on the injury report for the San Antonio game. Reserve point guard Payton Pritchard is listed as questionable due to a sore hip. Xavier Tillman is also listed as questionable due to a sore knee. The Tillman listing is actually a positive development for the big man since he’s been ruled out for the past week with a knee injury.
The Celtics will be going for their seventh straight win against a Spurs team that will be extremely shorthanded playing without De’Aaron Fox (hand) and Victor Wembanyama (shoulder). They have lost two straight games overall and have fallen out of the play-in hunt in the Western Conference.
The Celtics and Spurs tip off on Saturday night at 8 p.m.
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