Joe Mazzulla explained Jayson Tatum’s last-minute scratch against Magic
"He did what he tried to do to try to play, he just wasn't able to."
Jayson Tatum’s availability was a game-time decision on Monday night.
The Celtics forward wasn’t feeling well, but tried to power through and play, coach Joe Mazzulla said.
But, ultimately, Tatum was ruled out with a non-COVID illness and the Celtics lost the game against the Orlando Magic without him.
“Right before we came out for tipoff,” Mazzulla said. “He did what he tried to do to try to play, he just wasn’t able to.”
Losing without Tatum was not an excuse, Mazzulla said. The Celtics led by 14 at the half and coughed up the lead.
Orlando was also severely undermanned. They played without All-Star forward Paolo Banchero. Center Mo Wagner, who was in the running for the Sixth Man of the Year award, was recently ruled out for the season with a torn ACL, and his brother Franz Wagner was also out with a torn oblique.
“We had enough. Obviously you want to have one of your best players,” Mazzulla said of Tatum’s absence. “You want to have him, but it’s not really a challenge. We did what we had to do. We got off to a good start. We just had a tough third quarter.”
The Magic erased Boston’s lead in the third quarter, outscoring the Celtics 36-21. They hit timely threes down the stretch while Boston went cold from beyond the arc.
Jaylen Brown carried the bulk of the scoring load with a game-high 35 points. He took a more deliberate approach towards attacking on offense with Tatum out.
“It just allowed me to be more aggressive and comfortable,” Brown said. “I would have liked to get to the foul line a lot more, using my physicality and aggression but tonight on the road it just wasn’t the case. I’m adjusting to that, just being more physical.”
“Obviously JT is a big part of our offense, but I thought we got off to a great start in the first half,” he added. “The ball was moving, we played well. In the second half, we just didn’t meet the level of physicality that we needed to in certain spots, so we’ve got to be better in that regard.”
Mazzulla said the Magic stars absences didn’t change much for him in terms of game-planning.
“That’s kind of the team that they’ve had for the last few games,” Mazzulla said. “They have a system, they have a DNA about their physical defense and the way they play. So, regardless of who is in, who is out, you know what you’re getting from that team.”
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