Kristaps Porzingis gives candid reaction after Jayson Tatum injury
Kristaps Porzingis gives candid reaction after Jayson Tatum injury
You could hear a pin drop in the Celtics locker room after the team’s 121-113 Game 4 loss to the Knicks on Monday night.
The somber atmosphere was about much more than the team falling down 3-1 in their series against the Knicks. Instead, the concern was centered around All-Star Jayson Tatum, who left the game in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a serious right leg injury.
“It looked like he got hurt there, he stayed on the ground for awhile,” Kristaps Porzingis said. “I don’t know, but it didn’t look good. We’re hoping for the best.”
Porzingis and his teammates did not have a chance to talk to Tatum after the injury, as he attempted to chase down a loose ball.
“I haven’t seen him,” Porzingis said. “He’s got people around. It’s probably an overwhelming moment right now.”
The Celtics were on their way to a loss before Tatum went down, having fallen behind by nine points amid an impressive second half Knicks rally at Madison Square Garden. While Porzingis was sympathetic to Tatum’s situation, he acknowledged the team needed to stick together and move forward amid the injury fallout with their season at stake.
“We’re grown men, you know?” Porzingis said. “Who hasn’t had injuries? It’s a part of this sport, part of this game, and we feel for him, of course. But we have to move forward. He doesn’t want us to be sad and not playing our best basketball. So we’re going to go out there and leave it all out there and live with the results.”
The series now shifts back to Boston for Game 5 with the likelihood that Tatum will not be available for the contest. With a must-win situation looming, Porzingis believes this group can stay alive despite Tatum’s situation.
“We have the talent, we have a lot of talent,” Porzingis said. :Even with JT out, even me maybe playing 10-15 minutes, we have the guys and we’ve shown in the past that we can play still really good basketball.
“Obviously, like, there’s no replacement for this guy, no? Like, this is a big hit for us, 100 percent. But again, we have to play with the hand we’re dealt right now, and this is it. Going forward, maybe not, maybe not. Who knows? I don’t know. But we’re gonna play with what we have.”
The Celtics will anxiously await news on Tatum’s condition on Tuesday but Porzingis wants the team to regroup as the series shift to Boston Wednesday night.
“Again, these things happen,” Porzingis said. “Obviously we all felt for him in that moment, but we just have to keep going, we have to keep playing. Obviously we all realized in our heads what this could mean, but again, this is part of the sport, it’s tough, and it’s hard to see and hard to accept the truth but it is what it is and we have to go forward with what we have now.”