– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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WASHINGTON — After almost a week off, Jayson Tatum looked like the MVP candidate he surely will be at the end of the season. Now the biggest worry for the Boston Celtics after their latest routine victory will be how long their starting big man, who missed the start of the season, will be sidelined after leaving with another lower leg injury.
Jayson Tatum scored 28 points and 12 rebounds in his return to the lineup as the Boston Celtics erased an early deficit and cruised to a 112-98 victory over the Washington Wizards inside Capital One Arena on Sunday evening. Payton Pritchard notched his second consecutive double-double off the bench with 15 points and 11 rebounds while also contributing six assists.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 11 points, but left the game in the second quarter with what was described with right heel pain. Porzingis missed the first 17 games of the season after suffering a displaced tendon injury in his left ankle during Game 2 of last summer’s NBA Finals and undergoing offseason surgery.
“I don’t think it’s anything major,” Porzingis told reporters after the game. “I think I should be fine for next game, but we’ll see. We’ll take it game by game.”
The Wizards opened up an early eight-point lead on the strength of second-year player Bilal Coulibaly, who scored 11 points in the first 2 1/2 minutes. But the Celtics quickly erased the deficit to take the lead, which turned into a double-digit advantage. Tatum, who sat out Thursday’s win with a minor knee injury, had 11 points and six rebounds in the first quarter alone, and his three-pointer at the end of the first quarter was in the middle of a 15-0 run spanning the first and second quarters that opened up a 39-23 lead.
Coulibaly ended the game with 19 points, while Jordan Poole led five players in double figures in scoring for Washington with 21 points to go along with seven assists.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday evening’s game, with photos taken by DC-area photographer Terry Mayo Jr. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 30 pictures in total.
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