Jayson Tatum wrist injury update after Celtics-Magic Game 1

Tatum appeared to injure his wrist after a flagrant foul by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — but X-rays came back clean.

BOSTON — The TD Garden crowd held its breath as Jayson Tatum laid down alongside the baseline, clutching his right wrist.

The Celtics held a double-digit lead over the Orlando Magic in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s playoff opener — but for a moment, the only thing that mattered was a potential Tatum injury.

Just a few hours after that scary moment, it seems that a worst-case scenario was avoided, with Tatum saying postgame that the pain had already gone away and that an X-ray came back clean.

“I just landed on it,” he said. “It was throbbing for a sec. It kind of went away.”

The play occurred after Tatum drove to the basket for a dunk and was fouled by Magic forward Kentavius Caldwell-Pope. Upon landing hard on the ground, the Celtics star swung his legs back and forth as his teammates huddled around him.

After review, officials assessed Caldwell-Pope a flagrant foul penalty one, and Tatum remained in the game despite the initial scare. A loud “MVP” chant inundated the arena as Tatum got back on his feet and headed to the line.

Joe Mazzula kept it simple when asked about Tatum’s injury status after the game.

“He’s good,” he said.

The right wrist that Tatum hurt is not the same one he’s previously had issues with; in the 2022 playoffs, Tatum played through a non-displaced fracture in his left wrist that he elected not to have surgery for.

Tatum finished the game with 17 points on 8-22 shooting, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. He hit a pull-up three, a reverse layup, and a fadeaway jumper before checking out of the game with just over a minute to play.

Jrue Holiday downplayed the play postgame

Jrue Holiday, asked about the foul postgame, simply deemed it playoff basketball.

“Hard foul,” he said. “Playoff basketball. 7th seed that’s gonna come out and fight and be physical. Just a hard foul.”

The Celtics will be off on Monday, have practice Tuesday, and play Game 2 against the Magic on Wednesday at 7pm at TD Garden.