Jayson Tatum injury: All-Star is ‘uncomfortable’ but Celtics expect him to play Game 3 after suffering eye injury

Jayson Tatum returned to the Celtics bench in the closing moments of Boston’s Game 2 loss to the Brooklyn Nets after suffering a right eye injury. However, Brad Stevens said after the game the All-Star forward was ‘uncomfortable’ and struggled to adjust to the arena light after getting poked in the right eye by Kevin Durant in the third quarter.

“He went back out on the court – tried to readjust to the light out there, and he was really struggling,” Brad Stevens said after Game 2. “He got scratched pretty good. It looks pretty red, it looks pretty swollen to me. I don’t know what that means – I don’t know what the exact diagnosis is. But he’s uncomfortable right now.

Tatum suffered the injury in the opening minutes of the third quarter after poking the ball away from Kevin Durant under Brooklyn’s basket. In the ensuing scramble, Durant made contact with Tatum’s face and caused him to fall to the floor where he was tended to by Boston’s training staff for several minutes before heading to the locker room at Barclays Center.

The Celtics will get two full days of rest before Game 3 of the series at TD Garden, which should be some useful extra time for Tatum’s recovery. The All-Star forward did not speak with reporters after Game 2 on Tuesday night but his teammate Marcus Smart was optimistic that he would be available for the pivotal Game 3 matchup with Boston facing an 0-2 hole.

“He’s good,” Smart said of Tatum’s condition. “You know, it’s unfortunate. You know, especially, at this level, at any level. But right now, when we’re struggling and our best player goes out with an injury, you know, it’s tough. But he’s in good spirits, we’re in good spirits. He’s going to be OK. I don’t think it’s as serious as most people probably thought, which is good for us, good for him. And, like I said, he’s in good spirits. I’m sure he’ll be playing in Game 3 and we’ll get right back to it.”

The Celtics will be in need of a bounce back performance from Tatum and his supporting cast in the matchup. The 23-year-old is shooting just 27.5 percent from the field in the series (9-of-32) and had been in a 3-of-18 funk over his last two halves of basketball before suffering the eye injury, leading to a 2-0 series hole for Boston.

“We need to get open for him,” Smart said of Tatum’s struggles. “We’re running plays for him, we’re doing everything that we can to help him. But at the same time, Jayson has to continue to be able to adjust to the defense that he’s seeing out there. Like I said, we just gotta continue to get open for him. We gotta continue to get in his eyesight and JT got to continue to make the pass to us, even if we’re making or missing them. Eventually, shots will fall and it’ll open up a lot for him.”