The Boston Celtics will not have star forward Jayson Tatum available Wednesday night as they face elimination in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the New York Knicks.
Tatum on Tuesday “underwent successful surgery to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon,” the Celtics announced. He is out indefinitely, with the Celtics saying “no timetable is currently available for his return, but he is expected to make a full recovery.”
He was listed as out on the Celtics’ injury report for Game 5 with the designation of “right Achilles tendon repair.”
The non-contact injury occurred with 2:58 remaining in the fourth quarter of Game 4 when he tried to reach for a loose ball. He could not put any weight on his leg as he was helped off the court during Boston’s 121-113 loss in New York on Monday.
“It’s tough to watch a guy like him getting carried off like that,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.
Tatum was seen in a tunnel outside the locker room after the game sitting in a wheelchair with his head in a towel.
Back home in Boston for Game 5 (7 p.m. ET, TNT), the defending champion Celtics trail 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.
The loss of Tatum figures to be extremely difficult to overcome. He averaged 26.1 points and 12.0 rebounds per game in the postseason, and before the injury in Game 4 against the Knicks had scored 42 points on 16-for-28 shooting, with eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocked shots.
“They’ll be ready,” Mazzulla said. “I mean, that’s just who they are. It’s been that way. It’s the locker room that they have, and they’ll be ready. So, you trust the character of the guys in moments like this, and you take it one game at a time.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jayson Tatum Achilles injury: Celtics star out vs Knicks and beyond
