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Victor Petkov
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Celtics take Game 1 over Magic amid injury scare for Tatum
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Jayson Tatum fell awkwardly after a dunk and seemed in serious pain, but managed to get up and stay on court

The Boston Celtics opened their 2025 NBA Playoffs campaign with a 103-86 victory over the Orlando Magic on Sunday night at TD Garden, but the win came with a moment of concern as star forward Jayson Tatum suffered a painful fall in the fourth quarter.

Tatum, who finished with 17 points, went up for a dunk with just over eight minutes remaining in the game and was fouled hard by Orlando’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The Celtics forward landed awkwardly on his right side, immediately clutching his wrist in visible discomfort. The TD Garden crowd, which had just been chanting “MVP!”, fell silent momentarily as Tatum remained on the floor.

“It was throbbing for a second,” Tatum said postgame. “It kind of went away.” He later confirmed that X-rays taken after the game were negative, providing a major sigh of relief for a Boston team with championship aspirations.

The foul was reviewed and upgraded to a flagrant, but Tatum missed both free throws. Nevertheless, he stayed in the game and appeared to avoid serious injury.

Derrick White led the Celtics offensively with 30 points, while Payton Pritchard came off the bench to contribute 19. Jaylen Brown, returning from a knee issue that sidelined him for the final three games of the regular season, played 31 minutes and added 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting.

“We’ve got many different ways we can win. A lot of different things we can throw at teams,” said White, whose performance highlighted Boston’s depth.

Despite the loss, Orlando’s Paolo Banchero delivered an impressive individual performance, scoring 36 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Franz Wagner added 23 points for the Magic, who are still searching for their first playoff series win since 2010.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series will be held in Boston on Wednesday night.