The Boston Celtics (66-25 straight up, 42-48-1 against the spread) announced Tuesday that six-time All-Star forward Jayson Tatum had surgery to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon after going down with the injury late in the fourth quarter of Monday’s loss to the New York Knicks in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The surgery was successful, but the team didn’t provide any timetable for Tatum’s recovery. The loss leaves Boston on the brink tonight when it hosts New York (58-34 SU, 47-44-1 ATS) with a 3-1 deficit in the series.
As of this morning, most books had the Celtics installed as 4.5-point home favorites with a total of 207.5 or 208. The Knicks were +160 on the money line.
Tatum went down with three minutes remaining and his team down 113-104. Boston would eventually lose a 121-113 decision as a five-point road favorite, as the 234 combined points soared ‘over’ the 209-point total.
Tatum had been brilliant before suffering the injury, scoring 42 points on 16-of-28 shooting from the field and 7-of-16 makes from 3-point land. He added eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and a pair of blocked shots.
The 27-year-old Tatum was Boston’s first-round pick in the 2017 NBA Draft with the #3 overall selection. Since then, he’s helped the Celtics make the Eastern Conference finals five times, the NBA Finals twice and they won it all last season.
Not only is Tatum out for the rest of the postseason, but he’ll likely miss all of the 2025-26 regular season as well. When Kevin Durant sustained the same injury during the 2019 NBA Finals, he didn’t make it back until the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
In 72 regular-season games this year, Tatum averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He hit 45.2 percent of his field-goal attempts, 34.3 percent of his treys and 81.4 percent of his free throws.
In eight games during the playoffs, Tatum has averaged 28.1 points, 11.5 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.1 SPG. He’s made 42.3 percent of his FGAs, 37.2 percent of his 3-pointers and 88.9 percent of his free throws.
In 121 career postseason contests, Tatum has averaged 24.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.2 SPG.
Boston blew leads of 20 points or more in both Games 1 and 2 of home losses to the Knicks. The Celtics led by as many as 14 in Monday’s loss at Madison Square Garden.
FanDuel has New York as a -620 ‘chalk’ for its updated series price, with Boston as a +460 underdog. The series spread is the Knicks -1.5 games at a -320 price, so bettors can take the Celtics at +1.5 for a +245 payout.
Tip-off at TD Garden tonight is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Eastern on TNT.