BOSTON — Kentavious Caldwell-Pope defended his play on Jayson Tatum that resulted in a flagrant foul speaking to CLNS Media at the Magic’s shootaround on Wednesday. Tatum is entering the night doubtful to play in Game 2 with a right wrist bone bruise that he suffered on the play.
Caldwell-Pope himself received treatment all over his body after the morning session, flexing his should and wearing some wrap on his own wrist after a physical Game 1. He did not hear Al Horford’s criticism of his fouling following the series opener, Horford saying there was definitely something extra on the play, but he didn’t care what anyone thought.
“Just a foul. Playoff basketball. That’s all I gotta say on it,” Caldwell-Pope told CLNS. “I didn’t hear any comments (from Horford). I’m not worried about any comments. At the end of the day, this is how I play, this is how I’ve been playing in playoff basketball. A hard foul is a hard foul. I really don’t care what anybody says. I’m still gonna play how I play, how I’m supposed to play for my team at the end of the day.”
“I don’t know what happened,” he continued. “For me, I’m going up to contest a shot. As a defender, I’m here to help stop the ball from going in the basket. Whether they thought it was a flagrant foul or a bad call or whatever it was, I just went up to block the ball.”
Jamahl Mosley and teammates also defended the play at shootaround, Mosley believing the reaction stemmed more from the fall than anything Caldwell-Pope did on the play. Officials did call a flagrant one foul on the play though, while Tatum stayed down, missed two free throws, hit a three and scored seven points before exiting the floor with 10 second remaining to receive an X-Ray. It returned negative, but an MRI revealed the bone bruise.
Franz Wagner said he didn’t think the play crossed any line when asked by CLNS. They don’t want anyone to get hurt, he said, but they also aren’t going to let anyone dunk the ball in the playoffs. Horford disagreed, pointing to two similar hard fouls by Caldwell-Pope earlier in the game. He signaled toward the Magic bench that it was the third time, though Jrue Holiday tried to defuse the situation and himself acknowledge it was playoff basketball after.
If Tatum misses Wednesday’s game, it’ll mark the first playoff game of his career that he sat out. The prognosis for a wrist bone bruise is less than one game missed, on average, but the greater concern is pain management and how Tatum will play through it. Joe Mazzulla stressed that Tatum get right up from the sideline, calling it a moment of love. Pritchard acknowledged that they all have to take that approach if the Magic try to bully them.
“I don’t feel intimidated,” Pritchard said on Tuesday. “I grew up playing physical basketball in the back yard, playing with my brothers and friends, and I think we all have. So no matter what a hard foul is, we just gonna get up and play ball, and check it back up. Obviously, they fouled him hard and he had a little fall, but it’s not gonna stop us from what we’re trying to achieve.”
