Last night, Celtics fans were left heartbroken as they saw Jayson Tatum injure his ankle after landing awkwardly on Domantas Sabonis’ foot. Of course, JT is their primary scorer, and they cannot afford to lose him with playoffs right around the corner. Providing some relief to the worried fans, Joe Mazzulla gave a post-game update about Tatum’s health: “He seems to be doing okay. Just icing it right now.” However, behind the scenes, eyewitnesses claim otherwise!

According to a report by The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmmelsbach, Jayson Tatum left the arena with a slight limp. So, the injury is definitely bothering the six-time All-Star. But the good news is that he was walking without the support of crutches or a boot. Instead, JT was spotted wearing sneakers on both feet and was even joking with his teammates in the locker room.

Unfortunately, he was not available for a media interview to shine more light on how he was feeling. Well, the injury surely looked devastating when it happened, as Tatum immediately dropped to the floor after tweaking his ankle and began writhing in pain. Even while waiting on the bench for the referees to review the foul on Sabonis, JT was trying his best to fight through the agony. When the foul got upgraded to a Flagrant 1 penalty, Jayson made one of the two resulting free throws but was unable to continue playing.

After the game, Mazzulla revealed his thoughts about Sabonis’ questionable foul: “I didn’t see the play, but they made the right call. It was a flagrant foul. And fortunate that he was able to shoot the free throw and you know just taking care of it right now.” When asked about a further update on Tatum’s injury, the head coach revealed that he had yet to talk to the Celtics star.

“I literally just asked him how he’s doing, he said ‘Okay.’ I haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet. But he’ll do anything and everything to make sure he gets better,” Mazzulla promised. Comforting words, no doubt!

Joe Mazzulla praises the Celtics for their impressive response to the Jayson Tatum setback

Before Tatum got injured, he was clearly the best player on the floor. Including his final free throw, he finished with 25 points and eight assists in less than three quarters. So, many thought the Kings would make a comeback now that JT is gone. However, the Celtics didn’t lose focus and extended their lead even further, giving the home team no chance to make a comeback.

Sure enough, Mazzulla was extremely pleased with his team’s effort: “I like how they responded really just the entire game for the second night of a back-to-back playing against the physical team like that… That team brings out the physicality and they test you. I thought our guys did a great job handling that. Just making plays on both ends of the floor. I thought our defense was tremendous.”

With Tatum gone, the rest of the players stepped up big time, as Payton Pritchard led the charge with his 22-point performance. Meanwhile, the starters combined for 67 points. Moreover, their impressive defense limited the Kings to only 95 points. A dominant performance, indeed. With the Cs comfortable in the second seed, they would likely give Tatum ample rest before the playoffs and not rush his return—because the postseason is where he will be needed the most. Thoughts?