If the Boston Celtics extend their season by beating the visiting New York Knicks in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Wednesday night, they will do so without leading scorer Jayson Tatum.
Tatum, 27, suffered a ruptured right Achilles tendon in the final minutes of New York’s 121-113 victory in Game 4 on Monday night. He had surgery Tuesday and will miss the remainder of the playoffs.
The Celtics said the surgery was a success, but the length of the recovery process remains unclear. Some reports said Tatum could miss the entire 2025-26 season as well.
“Get ready for the next one,” Jaylen Brown said. “Get ready to fight. Get ready to come out on our home floor and do what we need to do. That’s the goal. Still the goal. We’ve got enough in the locker room, so I believe in my guys.”
The Knicks have a 3-1 lead in the series and can end Boston’s season with a win Wednesday. The victory also would put New York in the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years.
Jalen Brunson had 39 points and 12 assists to help the Knicks overcome a 14-point deficit in Game 4. He’s averaged 30.2 points in 34 career playoff games with New York.
“We have a great opportunity,” Brunson said. “We’re playing a really good team, and I don’t think we’re playing our best basketball yet. We have a team that’s fairly new this year and we still have a long way to go to be the best that we can be. There’s always time to learn for us. We’ve got to make sure that we’re never satisfied and have that student mentality.”
Tatum scored 42 points in Game 4, also racking up eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks before he was helped off the floor with 2:58 left. He averaged 26.8 points per game during the regular season.
“Obviously you’re always concerned about someone’s health, so it’s twofold,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. “We’re concerned about his health, where he’s at, and then we’re concerned about what we have to do better for Game 5 when we get back to Boston.”
The Celtics had a 9-2 record this season in games they played without Tatum. That includes a 109-100 victory over Orlando in the first round. Tatum sat out that game with a wrist injury.
“It’s a part of this sport, part of this game, and we feel for him, of course,” Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis said. “But we have to move forward. He doesn’t want us to be sad and not playing our best basketball. So we’re going to go out there and leave it all out there and live with the results.”
New York will be seeking its third win in Boston during the series. The Knicks took a 2-0 series lead with road wins before the teams split two games in New York. The Knicks are 5-0 on the road this postseason.
“That team is special,” Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns said of Boston, per the New York Daily News. “They’re defending champions. It takes a whole team to beat them.”
Towns has double-doubles in six straight games dating to the Knicks’ first-round series against Detroit and is averaging 19.8 points and 14.0 rebounds in the Boston series.
–Field Level Media
