Celtics HC Joe Mazzulla reveals details of Jayson Tatum’s surprising illness

On By Littum

The Boston Celtics suffered a tough loss on Monday as the young upstart Orlando Magic defeated them 108-104. Arguably the deepest team in the league, the Celtics were without their star player and MVP candidate, Jayson Tatum.

Tatum, questionable to play due to a non-Covid illness, was eventually ruled out for the remainder of the game as he played zero minutes. This came as quite a shock as it was expected that Tatum would be fine enough to play.

Nevertheless, he was expected to come from the beach, but ended up not giving it a chance. After the game, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla gave an update on Tatum and detailed what went wrong with him.

“Right before we came out for the tip,” Mazzulla said via Brian Robb of MassLive. “He did what he tried to do to try to play, he just wasn’t able to.”

Based on Mazzulla’s update, Tatum’s illness won’t affect him for too long. Considering he tried to play against Orlando, Tatum should be fine enough to play on Christmas Day against the Philadelphia 76ers.

When asked if Tatum’s absence contributed to the Celtics’ shortcomings, Mazzulla said, ‘No.’

“None,” Mazzulla said when asked about the impact of Tatum not playing.

“We have enough. I mean of course you want one of your best players. You want him, but it’s not really a challenge. We did what we had to do, we got off to a good start. We have just had a tough third quarter,” he continued.

Tatum instead stood on the bench and cheered on his teammates after being removed from the injury report.

Boston was up at halftime, 58-43, but the Magic dominated the third quarter to tie the game at the end of that period and push the lead by 10 into the fourth. Orlando was outplayed in the first half for the second straight game while playing without Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Mo Wagner, but it still found a way to win.

As for Boston, they went cold in the second half in their final road game of 2024. The Celtics look to have their superstar on the court on Wednesday to earn their 23rd win of the season.

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