Celtics’ Tatum doubtful for Game 3 with ‘severe’ wrist bruise

Boston Celtics’ talisman Jayson Tatum is doubtful for the third game of the Eastern Conference first round series against Orlando Magic on Friday. Tatum has suffered severe wrist bruise, head coach Joe Mazzulla confirmed.

Tatum is dealing with a bone bruise in his right wrist, an injury suffered on a hard fall after getting fouled in Game 1 of the series. Tatum did not play in Game 2 due to the same injury. The Celtics are currently leading 2-0 against the Magic.

“He’s dealing with a severe bone bruise,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said in an interview on Boston radio station 98.5 The Sports Hub. “He’s day to day. He’s progressively gotten a little bit better each day. [Wednesday] he went through all the protocols and did everything he could possibly do up until the last moment to try to play.”

The second game was the first playoff fixture which Tatum missed in his career. Tatum has played 114 consecutive postseason games for Boston after joining the franchise in 2017.

Mazzulla said Tatum will do everything to be ready for the remaining matches as he holds the key.

“At the end of the day I know he’ll do whatever it takes to put himself in position to play and put our team in position to win,” Mazzulla said. “It’s kind of who he is and we trust in that.”

The chief coach said he has faith in Tatum’s process and backed him to bounce back strongly.

“I trust his process, I trust his mindset, I trust the people around him that help put him in position,” Mazzulla said in the radio interview. “That’s all we can do.”

Tatum averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 6.0 assists during the regular season.