Report: Tatum was playing injured too

[RJ87]

Apparently, our whole team was falling apart. From Jared Weiss at The Athletic:

Tatum rapidly evolved over the course of the season, and therefore so did the Celtics’ crunch-time offense. Stevens never quite was able to find a way to make it blend in the same way it did earlier in the year, and that offers the one major area of improvement for him. The young star was playing with a banged-up right leg that became apparent halfway through the series. Yet he still led the playoffs in minutes per game and he kept fighting even when his shot wasn’t falling.

https://theathletic.com/2094389/2020/09/27/celtics-eliminated-but-still-have-promising-future/

[NKY fan]

That’s on Danny for the lack of depth. Tatum had to play all these minutes... what a shame

[keevsnick]

That sounds more like the type of banged up literally everybody is at that point of the playoffs than actually being injured.

[Vermont Green]

He is 22.  He probably was banged up.  He will be more durable and ready for a playoff run as he matures.  I am not worried.  Short of Magic Johnson in the finals as a rookie, Tatum played about as well as you can ask of a 22 year old player.  It is a shame if this really did hinder him but I am not sure it did based on what I saw.

[RJ87]

He is 22.  He probably was banged up.  He will be more durable and ready for a playoff run as he matures.  I am not worried.  Short of Magic Johnson in the finals as a rookie, Tatum played about as well as you can ask of a 22 year old player.  It is a shame if this really did hinder him but I am not sure it did based on what I saw.

I think it did a bit, especially in game 4 when it really looked like his movement was impeded and everyone kept wondering during the broadcast if he was hurt. His game doesn't completely rely on athleticism, so it may not have been as obvious all the time.

[Tr1boy]

That’s on Danny for the lack of depth. Tatum had to play all these minutes... what a shame

Too bad Langford got injured

[hwangjini_1]

hayward, tatum, langford...

with even average injury luck the celtics would be in the finals this year....with a good chance of beating LA.

next year i expect the cetlics to be in the finals and to win it all....barring injuries. 

[SparzWizard]

Well now all the excuses come out. But...I supposed getting banged up happens when you have or the other J had to carry the team on your back each game.

[PhoSita]

Everybody is banged up by round 3.

You've got to build your team to be able to succeed despite that.


The Celts had to play their main 6 guys wayyyy too much just to get to the conference finals.

In some sense it shouldn't be surprising that Miami seemed to have way more (orange) juice available to push them over the line at the end of games.

[radiohead]

I remember Marc Jackson and JVG were saying that Tatum wasn’t moving normally and suggested that he may indeed be playing injured. So maybe there’s some truth to that report.

[mmmmm]

That’s on Danny for the lack of depth. Tatum had to play all these minutes... what a shame

Too bad Langford got injured

And Hayward and Javante'.

Let's face it, we played most of the playoffs with no real depth behind Tatum & Jaylen other than, well ... Semi.

Having any of Hayward, Javonte' or Langford fully healthy might have made the difference when you lose games as close as we lost games 1, 2 & 4.   Even if it just means they had played only in earlier games in the playoffs that were not as close, giving the Jays more rest along the way.

So really, it's perhaps not fair to blame Danny for the lack of depth when three of our wings got injured right away for most or all of the playoffs.

[Redz]

Everybody is banged up by round 3.

You've got to build your team to be able to succeed despite that.


The Celts had to play their main 6 guys wayyyy too much just to get to the conference finals.

In some sense it shouldn't be surprising that Miami seemed to have way more (orange) juice available to push them over the line at the end of games.

I wonder how different things would have been if Toronto hadn't made that miracle shot in game 3.


...if ands and buts were candy and nuts

[gift]

He is 22.  He probably was banged up.  He will be more durable and ready for a playoff run as he matures.  I am not worried.  Short of Magic Johnson in the finals as a rookie, Tatum played about as well as you can ask of a 22 year old player.  It is a shame if this really did hinder him but I am not sure it did based on what I saw.

I think it did a bit, especially in game 4 when it really looked like his movement was impeded and everyone kept wondering during the broadcast if he was hurt. His game doesn't completely rely on athleticism, so it may not have been as obvious all the time.

Yeah Van Gundy picked up on this early on. Just said he wasn't moving right. So it makes sense there was some injury, though no one at the time would confirm it.