Celtics’ Jayson Tatum Ruled Out Against Magic

The Boston Celtics are still playing hard. Despite the fact that they have locked up the second seed in the Eastern Conference standings, they are still trying to win as many games as they can.
Boston clearly wants to keep playing their best basketball at the end of the season heading into the postseason. They will use the week between the play-in and the playoffs to rest.
The Celtics took down the Knicks on Tuesday night, beating them 119-117. That win means they have won 12 of their last 13 games.
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Boston was able to beat the Knicks, thanks to Jayson Tatum. He hit a 3-point shot at the end of regulation that sent the game into overtime.
He did this despite showing up on the injury report prior to the game. On the second night of a back-to-back, Tatum is on the injury report again.
Tatum is listed as out because of his ankle injury. He will miss this game against Orlando.
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— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 9, 2025
Kristaps Porzingis (return from illness reconditioning) - OUT
Jayson Tatum (left ankle sprain) - OUT
Derrick White (left ankle sprain) - OUT
The Celtics are going to try to keep their guys healthy as the playoffs approach in a couple of weeks. It makes sense to sit him with just three games left in the season.
Tatum is the most important players that the Celtics have on the roster. He has to be healthy for them to have any sort of hope at repeating as champions.
The ankle injury is something that clearly isn't too bad since he just played on it on Tuesday night. The Celtics clearly just want to give him enough rest to make sure that he is good to go in the postseason.
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Boston will be without several starters for this game against the Magic, but it's all geared with an eye towards repeating as champions. That is the only goal left for Boston.
Now that they have locked themselves into the second seed in the Eastern Conference, they might not play many of their starters down the stretch. The injury risk is too great.
So far this season, Tatum is averaging 27 points, 8.7 rebounds, and six assists per game.
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