. As he was trying to gather himself, there was a shot of Mazzulla reacting in real-time to Tatum lying down.The Boston Celtics almost had their worst nightmare come to life when Jayson Tatum hurt his wrist in the fourth quarter in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Orlando Magic.
Tatum managed to shake it off, return to the game, play through most of the end of the game, and confirmed during his postgame press conference that he was okay (via Jay King of The Athletic). However, after Tatum hurt himself, there was a clip of Joe Mazzulla's initial reaction to the Celtics' star's injury.
Tatum finished the game with 17 points and 14 rebounds en route to a convincing win.
As he was trying to gather himself, there was a shot of Mazzulla reacting in real-time to Tatum lying down. In a clip later shared by Barstool Sports' Dan Greenberg, Mazzulla could be seen stopping a Celtics trainer from going out to check on Tatum. Not only that, but Mazzulla yelled at Tatum to get up
Greenberg used the clip to give his take on Mazzulla, writing that such instances like these are why he's the perfect man for the Celtics head coaching job.
Mazzulla clearly believed Tatum was okay, and the Celtics star ultimately was. Tatum has proven how durable he is for the Celtics. Not only has he never missed a playoff game despite playing with injuries, but the fewest games he's played in a regular season for the Celtics was 64 out of a possible 72 during the 2020-21 season.
No matter what anyone thinks of Mazzulla's reaction here, his results as Boston's head coach speak for themselves. Since he took over, the team has won 182 regular season games and 28 playoff games.
