BOSTON (AP) — Celtics star Jayson Tatum missed a playoff game for the first time in his career Wednesday night, sitting out with a bone bruise in his right wrist as Boston beat the Orlando Magic in Game 2 of the teams' Eastern Conference first-round series.
The six-time All-Star was declared out about an hour before tipoff. He had been listed listed as doubtful with the injury, which he suffered in the fourth quarter of the Celtics’ 103-86 victory on Sunday.
Boston was fine without Tatum. All-Star Jaylen Brown led the way with 36 points and 10 rebounds as the Celtics won 109-100.
Tatum was not on the court for the pregame shooting that he usually does alongside Brown.
He joined his teammates in the bench area just before tipoff, wearing street clothes and a black wrap around his injured wrist. He cheered at times during the action and spoke with teammates, trainers and coaches during timeouts.
Tatum has appeared in the playoffs in each of his eight NBA seasons, and before Wednesday, he had played in all 114 of Boston's games during that span. He led the Celtics in points, assists and rebounds per game this season.
During his media availability about two hours before the game, coach Joe Mazzulla said Tatum had been able to do some on-court work Wednesday.
“I know he’s doing everything he can to put himself in position to play," Mazzulla said. “He’ll be day to day.”
With Boston leading 89-73 with 8:28 remaining in Game 1, Tatum went up for a dunk and was hit hard by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who was going for a block. Tatum landed awkwardly on his right side. After a video review by referees, Caldwell-Pope’s foul was upgraded to a flagrant foul.
Tatum finished the game and said afterward that an initial throbbing pain went away. He had a postgame X-ray that he said was clean.
He participated in parts of Boston’s practice session Tuesday. An MRI that day revealed the bone bruise.
The Celtics were 8-2 during the regular season without Tatum. Both of those losses were to the Magic, but Boston rested all its starters in the final meeting at Orlando on April 9.
The best-of-seven series shifts to Orlando for Game 3 on Friday.
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Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who is sidelined with an injury, stands near the bench with his wrist wrapped during the first half in game 2 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series against the Orlando Magic, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who is sidelined with an injury, gets a pat on the back from center Al Horford during the first half in game 2 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum (0), right, reacts beside Derrick White after falling on a flagrant fowl by Orlando Magic's Kentavious Caldwell-Pope during the second half in Game 1 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown (7), left, and Jayson Tatum (0) play against the Orlando Magic during the first half in Game 1 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan police officer who killed a man with a shot to the back of the head testified in his own defense Friday, telling jurors at his second-degree murder trial what he was thinking and feeling as video of the violent confrontation was played in court.
Christopher Schurr said it’s “important to get my side of the story out” after settling into the witness box.
There's no dispute about how Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old Congolese immigrant, was killed in Grand Rapids in 2022. Jurors must decide whether Schurr, who was working alone, could have reasonably feared that he could suffer great bodily harm or be killed after Lyoya got control of his Taser.
Lyoya, a Black man, failed to produce a driver’s license after Schurr pulled him over for driving a car with a mismatched license plate. Then he ran, and the Grand Rapids officer chased and tackled him. As they physically struggled to exhaustion for more than two minutes that rainy spring morning, Schurr was heard desperately asking for officers to rush to the scene.
“My intent at that point is that I’m really struggling right now,” he told the jury after sighing and rubbing his face as the recording was played again.
Video shows the confrontation finally ended when Lyoya was shot in the back of the head while facedown on the ground. Schurr, his knee on the man’s back, fired after repeatedly demanding that Lyoya stop resisting and give up the Taser, which the officer had lost control of in the fight.
Outside the courthouse Friday, a crowd waved “thin blue line” flags in support of Schurr while standing along a busy downtown street.
The trial in Grand Rapids has mostly been a battle of experts.
Use-of-force experts testifying for the prosecutor said deadly force was not necessary to end the conflict. But several senior Grand Rapids officers, summoned by defense lawyers, said Schurr was at great risk when Lyoya got ahold of the Taser, a weapon that fires electrically charged probes to temporarily subdue an aggressor.
Schurr, 34, was fired by city officials at the recommendation of police Chief Eric Winstrom after he was charged in 2022. At the time, Winstrom said his recommendation was based on video of the encounter, the prosecutor’s review of a state police investigation and Schurr’s interview with internal investigators.
FILE - Patrick Lyoya's mother, Dorcas Lyoya, waits for the Michigan Court of Appeals hearing in the case against Christopher Schurr to begin in downtown Grand Rapids, Mich., on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. (Cory Morse/MLive.com/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
Michigan State Police bicycle unit joins Grand Rapids Police outside the Kent County Courthouse where the first day of trial began for former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr, who is charged in the 2022 killing of a Black motorist, Patrick Lyoya, in Grand Rapids, Mich., Monday, April 28, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)
A video image provided by WOOD-TV of former Grand Rapids police officer Christopher Schurr taken by Jessica Beaudry, crime scene technician with Grand Rapids Police Department, is displayed on the first day of Schurr's trial, who is charged in the 2022 killing of a Black motorist, Patrick Lyoya, at the Kent County Courthouse, Monday, April 28, 2025, Grand Rapids, Mich. (WOOD-TV/Pool Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)
A video image provided by WOOD-TV shows former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr being tased during his police academy training, played for the jury during testimony in the first day of Schurr's murder trial for the 2022 killing of a Black motorist, Patrick Lyoya, at the Kent County Courthouse in Grand Rapids, Mich., Monday, April 28, 2025. (WOOD-TV/Pool Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)
The family of Patrick Lyoya and Kent County commissioner Robert Womack, right, arrive outside the Kent County Courthouse in Grand Rapids, Mich., Monday, April 28, 2025. (Chris duMond/Detroit News via AP)
In this image taken from video from WOOD-TV, Kent County Prosecutor shows Aaron Tubergen, a detective sergeant with the Michigan State Police, the Taser of former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr, who is charged in the 2022 killing of a Black motorist, Patrick Lyoya, as he testifies during the first day of Schurr's murder trial at the Kent County Courthouse in Grand Rapids, Mich., Monday, April 28, 2025. (WOOD-TV, Pool Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)
Members of the media watch as dash cam footage from former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr patrol vehicle is played for the jury during Schurr's murder trial in the 2022 killing of a Black motorist, Patrick Lyoya, at Kent County Courthouse in Grand Rapids, Mich., Monday, April 28, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)
Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker shows Bryan Chiles, senior manager of Axon Forensics, the Taser7 used by former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr on Patrick Lyoya during the second day of trial at the Kent County Courthouse in Grand Rapids, Mich. on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (WOOD-TV via AP, Pool)
Body worn camera footage showing former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr with a Taser7 and Patrick Lyoya is shown during the third day at the Kent County Courthouse with his wife Brandey in Grand Rapids, Mich. on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (Joel Bissell/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)
Former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr sits in court during the second day of his trial at the Kent County Courthouse in Grand Rapids, Mich., Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Schurr is charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old Congolese immigrant during a traffic stop on April 4, 2022. (WOOD-TV via AP, Pool)
