Uh-oh — the Boston Celtics got some concerning news ahead of Wednesday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks: one of their superstar forwards is now questionable due to a non-COVID illness. So is Jayson Tatum playing tonight? It’s unclear when he would’ve gotten sick — Tatum played 44 minutes in Monday’s overtime loss to the Charlotte Hornets, racking up 45 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. Let’s dive into the most recent Jayson Tatum injury update. If you’re hungry for more action, check out our NBA player prop bets, our NBA betting tools or our NBA betting promos!
Jayson Tatum Injury Update: Is Boston’s Star Playing Tonight?
Jayson Tatum Injury Update
The Boston Celtics could be without Jayson Tatum tonight due to an illness. Tatum was a surprise addition to Wednesday’s injury report. The good news for Boston is that the rest of the team’s key pieces who have recently been held out, including Derrick White and Al Horford, do not appear on the injury report.
According to Barstool’s Steven Cheah citing a Boston beat reporter, Tatum was not at this morning’s shootaround after waking up sick. His absence from shootaround is a bad sign, but players miss shootaround and end up playing all the time. It’ll be important to keep a close eye on Twitter as tip-off approaches, however — if Tatum can’t go, the Celtics are in a tough spot. Boston went 5-3 without Tatum last year but went 1-2 against teams with winning regular-season records.
Is Jayson Tatum Playing for Boston Tonight?
So is Jayson Tatum playing for the Boston Celtics tonight? It’ll come down to pregame warmups, most likely. Tatum is a tough competitor and will want to play against a major Eastern Conference rival in the Bucks. He missed just eight games last year and is yet to miss one this year. While the Celtics don’t have to play tomorrow, they will have to play Friday, and this is their fourth game in three days.
The Celtics opened as a three-point favorite before getting bid up to five-point favorites in most spots. Following the news, they’re down to 4.5-point favorites — with the juice favoring the Bucks — over at BetMGM. Some other books, like bet365, still have Boston at five. Tatum’s points prop is trading at just 27.5, below his season average (28.2) and his average against the Bucks across their last five meetings (35).
If you think Tatum can build on those big games against Milwaukee and put together a flu-game-type performance, play his over at BetMGM. Make sure to check out our BetMGM bonus code for free OddsShopper Premium and your first bet paid back as a bonus bet up to $1,500!
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