Boston Celtics’ Title Odds Drop After Jayson Tatum Injury

• The Boston Celtics are the defending NBA champions, but they find themselves in a 3-1 hole against the New York Knicks in the second round of the playoffs.
• The Celtics have held double-digit leads in all four games, but have still lost three of them.
• Their job just got tougher as Jayson Tatum suffered a severe lower-leg injury, most likely an Achilles tear, which has caused Boston’s title odds to plummet.

The Boston Celtics are being pushed to the limit by the New York Knicks, and the champions have no room for more defeats, as the Knicks are up three games to one.

Boston is now awaiting a worst-case scenario as it looks like Jayson Tatum is gone for at least the playoffs, and potentially, much longer.  

Tatum Suffers a Non-Contact Injury, MRI Scheduled for Tuesday

Tatum went to the floor for a loose ball with 2:58 remaining in Game 3 against the Knicks, when he fell instantly, clutching just above his right ankle. He had to be carried off the floor by Boston staff members.

The Celtics’ star was doing all he could to keep his team in the game, putting up 42 points, eight rebounds, four assists, four steals, and two blocks. Boston was down 113-104 when Tatum went down, and ended up losing 121-113 to the Knicks to fall into a 3-1 deficit. The Celtics were upset about the loss, but more concerned about Tatum. His teammate, Al Horford, said:

“"I mean, at this point, I'm concerned about Jayson. That's the most important to me. … The game stuff, we'll address it. But I'm just hoping that he's OK."

Boston coach Joe Mazzulla claimed that he didn’t know what the actual injury was, and that an MRI would confirm the injury on Tuesday. However, from everything we’ve seen in sports, it looked like it was an Achilles tear. That would put Tatum on the shelf for the rest of the playoffs, and for much of next season as well.

Tatum is the second star in these playoffs to suffer a similar injury. Milwaukee guard Damian Lillard played just six minutes of Game 3 against Indiana in the first round before tearing his left Achilles.

Do the Celtics Still Have a Chance to Win it All?

The Celtics can still overcome the NBA title odds and repeat as champions, but first, they have to win three straight games against New York. They’ll need Jaylen Brown to play as he did in last season’s championship round when he won the Finals MVP.

The rest of the Celtics also have to step up on the offensive end to make up for Tatum’s absence, but also defensively. Tatum was having a fantastic all-around postseason, and he’s going to be a massive loss for the Celtics, who were +200 behind Oklahoma City before the second round started. After Tatum’s injury, the Celtics have fallen all the way to +2500.  

Boston also has to start thinking about next season. If Tatum’s Achilles is torn, he might even miss all of next season. Of course, they have to focus on the task at hand, which is coming back against the Knicks. But you can bet that the front office is also talking about contingency plans for the 2025-26 season if they have to play without their superstar forward.