The Celtics were scared for a moment during their loss to the Warriors on Tuesday when Jayson Tatum limped off the court and into the locker room in the first quarter.
Tatum stepped on Golden State’s Brandin Podziemski’s foot by accident with 7:45 left in the first quarter and rolled his left ankle. The Celtics star walked off to the locker room right away to get it checked out before coming back to play the first few minutes of the second quarter.
Tatum didn’t seem quite himself for the rest of the game, though, as he only scored 15 points on 5-of-17 shooting, including 2 of 9 from 3-point range. He did, however, have seven assists. He told reporters in San Francisco that his ankle was swollen and that it had hurt him while he was playing.
“I don’t want to be rude, but when you sprain your ankle, it gets stiff and swells up,” Tatum told reporters. “So it’s hard to… it just makes it harder to move.” That being said, I was still out there, so I think you can’t make an excuse if you play.
It’s still not clear if Tatum will be able to play in Wednesday’s back-to-back against the Kings in Sacramento.