In the Celtics game, Jayson Tatum sustained a stinger to his right shoulder…
Throughout the Celtics’ 109-103 Game 3 loss to the Heat on Saturday, the injuries kept coming.
The third player hurt during the game was Jayson Tatum of the Celtics. In the fourth quarter, Tatum suffered a right shoulder injury after Heat guard Victor Oladipo stole the ball from him.
Tatum was injured when he reached to try to recover the ball, which prevented him from doing so. He stayed there on the ground while the game went on. After being fouled on a jumper, Jaylen Brown finished a 3-point play and received a defensive block. Tatum was able to exit the game due to the foul.
But Tatum came back into the game quickly after, missing only 1:28 of the action, much like Marcus Smart did in the third quarter.
Following Tatum’s comeback, Celtics head coach Ime Udoka revealed that the injury was merely a stinger and is not thought to be significant.
Tatum described his injuries as “my neck getting caught in a weird position.” Naturally, I collapsed. My arm and neck both hurt and were uncomfortable. I went to have it examined. I decided to give it a shot once I started to feel a little better. The doctors checked it out.
Soon after Tatum returned, Boston began to chip away at Miami’s lead. With 2:40 remaining, Brown made a 3-pointer to get the Celtics within one point of the Heat’s lead. Tatum’s return to the game did not result in a significant improvement, in contrast to Smart. With 1:09 remaining in the game, the Celtics were down 98-92, and Tatum didn’t even try to score after rejoining the game. Miami was able to contain the top player from Boston.
Tatum had a difficult game the entire way, managing just 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting and committing six turnovers in the defeat.
Jimmy Butler, a star player for the Heat, also sustained injuries in Game 3 in addition to Tatum and Smart. He exited the game at halftime because of soreness in his right knee and did not come back.
