Celtics lose Tatum, Smart to injuries vs. Magic

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum exited Sunday’s game against the Orlando Magic early after suffering a left shin contusion in the first quarter.

He was later joined by Marcus Smart, who suffered a hip contusion in the third quarter.

Before his injury, Tatum missed two shots and was unable to score in six minutes. In his second season with the Celtics, he is averaging 15.9 points per game.

Before his teammate-assisted departure, Smart accumulated six points and four steals within 19 minutes. He has been averaging 8.9 points per game and four assists per game for Boston, having spent most of the season as a starter in the backcourt with Kyrie Irving.

With 6:15 left in the third, he departed, assisted by trainers and clutching his left hip after colliding with Magic center Nikola Vucevic. The team initially diagnosed it as a left hip contusion. After the game, Smart was still visibly limping as he exited the arena.

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Smart was subsequently diagnosed with a strained oblique and will be re-evalutated in the coming days. In the postgame news conference, coach Brad Stevens corrected that to an oblique “bruise” that he said was less severe than a strain.

Brad Stevens said Marcus Smart has an oblique "bruise" and not a strain. Said Smart was walking around in the locker room. #Celtics

— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) April 8, 2019

Stevens stated that Smart suffered an oblique bruise, a less severe injury compared to a strain. He also mentioned that Marcus was able to walk around post-game.

— Steve Bulpett (@SteveBHoop) April 8, 2019

“Marcus Smart has an oblique bruise, which means he got hit right there,” Stevens said after the game, per the Boston Herald. “And so, I guess that’s better than a strain or whatever, but we’ll see what that looks like tomorrow. He was a little sore but was walking around, which was good, in the locker room. So obviously, I’m glad we got out of there without anything else after that.”

Tatum might have sustained his injury earlier, Stevens also mentioned.

“Stevens revealed that Tatum had a shin contusion which he was apparently suffering from before the game, unbeknownst to him. Tatum expressed that he felt a bit off when he jumped. While hoping it’s not something serious, Stevens confirmed that Tatum will be examined later tonight and tomorrow to assess the situation,” said Stevens.

Following the game, it appeared that Stevens might not play Tatum or Smart—along with several other key Boston players—in the team’s regular-season finale against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday.

“Tonight’s goal was to provide a genuine game experience for some of our starters and top players, as we won’t have a playoff game until Saturday or possibly Sunday,” said Stevens. “However, these players will have significantly reduced playtime on Tuesday, if they play at all.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.