Donovan Mitchell reacts to Jayson Tatum’s hard foul that bloodied Cavs star

Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers left TD Garden on Tuesday night with the Boston Celtics handing them their first loss of the season.

Mitchell also took a good shot to the face thanks to Jayson Tatum to go along with the loss.

Tatum made a hard mistake on Mitchell as the Cavaliers star accelerated into the front court with the ball in his hands in the final seconds. After Mitchell used a pick to get away from Jrue Holiday, Tatum aggressively went for a steal but ended up colliding with Mitchell, knocking him to the floor. Mitchell was down for a bit, his mouth bloodied from the punch he took from the Celtics forward.

The refs decided not to review the play for a possible flagrant foul, and Mitchell, who could have drummed up what happened, played down the incident after Boston’s 120-117 victory.

“I thought it was worse than it was,” Mitchell told reporters. sore CLNS Media. “I just saw it. It was just a range mistake. I just hit part of his body and it hurt. But I thought it was worse in the moment. … It was just a basketball game.”

Mitchell, who finished with 35 points on 13-of-29 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds with three assists, certainly has no bad blood against Tatum for what happened.

“I’m fine. He got me here (side of the face) and I was just praying to God I didn’t have a concussion. That’s my only thing,” Mitchell said. “But like I said, it was a play on the ball. He’s got bony shoulders, so I hit his shoulder and that’s what it is.”