The Boston Celtics lost an important game on Sunday to the Blazers, slipping to 7th in the East and into play-in territory as the Heat jumped them with a win over Charlotte.
The ending in Boston was unfortunate for a few reasons for the Celtics, as they saw Marcus Smart get tossed for a low blow on Jusuf Nurkić down three with two minutes to go that all but ended their comeback bid. Making matters even worse was a collision between Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in the final minute, as they went for a trap on Norman Powell but kicked each other, with Brown taking the worst of the collision suffering a lower right leg injury and hopping to the tunnel before being helped to the locker room.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown both leave the game after a collision at the end of the game pic.twitter.com/IVDUL2nM0S
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) May 3, 2021
You can see Brown’s right leg kick Tatum’s hard and both immediately go to the ground grabbing at their lower leg. Tatum likewise limped back to the locker room, but Brown seemed to get the worst of the contact. Hopefully it is just a bruise and not something more severe for either of them, but given where the injury is there will be concern until X-ray results come back. Any serious injury to either Brown or Tatum would be disastrous to any hopes of another deep playoff run for Boston.
We’ll provide updates when they become available, but for now everyone is hoping for the best for both stars as the Celtics enter the closing stretch of the season.