Jayson Tatum will not play for the Boston Celtics against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday because of a sore left wrist. The latest Jayson Tatum injury news comes after the forward played 48 minutes and scored 34 points with an NBA career-high 19 rebounds in a 121-118 overtime victory against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.
It was the eighth straight win for Boston, which was an early 2.5-point road favorite at Toronto, using the OddsShopper tool for the best NBA lines.
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After Thursday, Tatum was third in the NBA at 31.2 points per game, behind Luka Doncic (33.7) and Joel Embiid (33.6), and was +700 to win NBA MVP, the third choice behind Nikola Jokic (-110) and Doncic (+430) at FanDuel.
The injury has been an issue for Tatum since the first game of the season, after playing through last season and the NBA Finals with a fracture in that wrist. He is averaging an NBA career high in points despite shooting a career low from 3-point range (35.1%), and scored a season high 51 points Monday in a 130-118 win at the Charlotte Hornets.
“If you look at my hand, I got tape on my wrist, tape on my thumb,” Tatum said last week, per NBC Sports Boston. “I had to tape my middle finger and ring finger together. I got a lot of [stuff] going on. … But I love to play too much to sit out.”
His 3-point percentage has fallen from 40.8% in October to 33.3% in December and 34.1% in January. It is 36.9% in 33 wins, and 28.4% in 11 losses.
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Despite the lingering injury, this will be only the third game Tatum has missed this season, though he could be given more rest going forward. The Celtics (+350) are the favorites to win the NBA championship, per DraftKings.
“Something me and Brad (Stevens) will fight about,” Tatum said to MassLive about resting more. “So when it gets to that point, maybe you’ll see me sit out, maybe not.”
