The Celtics’ game against the Magic on Sunday – a comfortable 116-108 Orlando win – was yet another low moment in a Celtics season that has had too many of them.
More worrying for the Celtics, however, was that both Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum exited the game with injuries. And while both injuries look minor (though there is some question with Smart’s), they really couldn’t come at a worse time for the Celtics looking to come together and right the ship ahead of the NBA Playoffs.
Tatum exited the game with what is being described as a left shin contusion, a bruise that undoubtedly hurts but should hopefully not linger as the playoffs begin. Celtics coach Stevens said the injury had been a lingering one, and one that Tatum thought he could play through on Sunday … only to decide once the game began that it wasn’t quite right.
Smart, on the other hand, left the game with what coach Brad Stevens called a “bruise” but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski heard from a source with the team was actually an oblique strain.
Smart suffered a collision during the game and limped off, grabbing his side. He tried to play through it after that but then left the game and didn’t return.
The Celtics haven’t lived up to expectations this year, and with a first-round matchup set with the Indiana Pacers, will need everyone to come together if they can hope to make even somewhat of a deep playoff run in a suddenly feisty Eastern Conference.
