The Boston Celtics fought their way to a sixth-straight win Monday night amid their longest road trip of the season. But it came at a potentially high cost.
After hitting his fifth three-pointer of the contest late in the third quarter, six-time All-Star Jayson Tatum rolled his ankle upon landing on the foot of Kings center Domantas Sabonis. With Tatum still on the floor in pain, officials reviewed the play and eventually hit Sabonis with a Flagrant 1 foul. Tatum walked to the line gingerly where he converted 1-of-2 free throws, and then headed directly to the locker room for the remainder of the game.
Tatum’s 25 points — despite not playing in the fourth quarter — were a game high, helping Boston to a 113-95 victory in the third game of its six-game road trip.
“He seems to be doing okay,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said of Tatum’s condition after the game. “I didn’t see the play but they made the right call. Fortunate that he was able to shoot the free throws. (He’s) taking care of it right now. I literally just asked him how he was doing and he said, ‘okay.’ He’ll do anything and everything to make sure he gets better.”
For his part, Sabonis was quick to apologize for the play after the game.
“I feel horrible. I’ve had a crazy month myself, personally,” Sabonis told reporters, referring to his own ankle injury sustained earlier this month. “You never want that to happen, so I apologize.”
The Celtics connected on 19 three-pointers in all with Tatum and Payton Pritchard leading the way with five apiece, followed by Derrick White (12 points, eight assists) and Baylor Schierman (nine points, seven rebounds) with three each. Pritchard’s 22 points off the bench limited any hope of Sacramento making things interesting while Boston’s starters rested, as did Luke Kornet’s loud 13 points and eight rebounds.
Boston center Kristaps Porzingis had his work cut out for him on the defensive end trying to contain Sabonis. Sacramento’s three-time All-Star finished with 16 points and pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds in the losing effort. Nonetheless, Porzingis finished with 16 points of his own to complement his eight rebounds in what was just his fourth game back from a severe respiratory illness.
“I liked how they responded really just the entire game for the second night of a back-to-back to play against a physical team like that,” Mazzulla said of Boston’s effort “That team brings out the physicality. I mean, they test you and 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 — 17-point fourth quarter. So some good stuff. I liked the approach and the mindset we had.”
Tatum and the Celtics now have one day to rest before they travel to Phoenix to take on a Suns team that’s won four straight — including signature victories over the Milwaukee Bucks and Eastern Conference leading Cleveland Cavaliers.
If Boston were to win, it would match its longest win streak of the season at seven games.
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