Celtics blow big lead vs. Knicks, lose Jayson Tatum to injury

The Celtics were trailing by seven points with just over three minutes to go when Jaylen Brown mishandled the ball and Jayson Tatum collapsed with a no-contact injury. OG Anunoby took the ball in for a dunk as Tatum writhed on the ground, then had to be helped off the court.

Before the injury, Tatum had scored 42 points and collected eight rebounds, along with four assists, four steals and two blocked shots. What was shaping up to be a duel between Tatum and Jalen Brunson down the stretch turned anticlimactic, as the Knicks stretched their lead to a dozen points while fans held their breath about the nature of Tatum's injury, and New York finished with a 121-113 win.

It was a game where Tatum scored 22 of Boston's 51 points in the second half, shooting 8-for-15. His teammates combined to go 10-of-27 and 3-for-15 from three-point range.

Coming back from a 3-1 series deficit was going to be difficult for the Celtics anyway, especially in a series where the team seems to wear down late in games. In Game 4, Tatum led the team in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks — that's hard to replace.

Judging by Tatum's reaction, it seems very unlikely he'll play when the series returns to Boston for Game 5 on Wednesday. At this point, the Celtics may simply hope he's not out for months.