If you tuned into Game 4 expecting a basketball game, what you got instead was a full-blown psychological thriller. The Celtics and Knicks waged war—elbows flying, whistles swallowed, energy electric enough to short out Manhattan. It was playoff basketball, but with bite. Enter, Jayson Tatum, to add to the fireworks.

Every possession felt like it mattered more than the last. And MSG? Loud enough to wake the ghosts in the rafters. You could practically smell the desperation of two fan bases clawing toward the same goal and neither willing to budge.

It was beautiful chaos… until it wasn’t. Then came the wheelchair. Wait, what?! Yes. A wheelchair. The drama at Madison Square Garden hit a new high when Jayson Tatum left the court in a wheelchair, sending Celtics fans into full-blown panic mode. What started as a tense Game 4 vs the Knicks quickly turned into a nightmare as Tatum’s injury threatened to wreck Boston’s playoff hopes.

As whispers and rumors swirl, head coach Joe Mazzulla didn’t do much to calm nerves postgame. “No update yet,” he told the media. Tatum will undergo an MRI tomorrow, but that’s where the official details end. No grades, no guesses. And definitely no good news, not currently at least.

“I have no idea, uh, I got back there, talked to the medical staff, they told me it’s a lower body injury and they’re going to get an MRI tomorrow, so you know we’ll see what it where it goes from there,” Joe said.

Which leaves us here, in the worst place sports fans can be: the waiting room of anxiety. And sure, fans can speculate. But let’s be real, when a player leaves in a wheelchair, the first thought isn’t “tight hamstring.” It’s “please don’t be a tear.” It’s “How bad is this really?” And it’s the terrifying realization that this entire postseason arc might’ve just untangled in real time.

Joe, later in a post-game interview said, “Yeah I mean you’re obviously always concerned about someone’s health um so you know it’s twofold we’re concerned about uh his health uh where he’s at and then we’re concerned about what we have to do better uh for game five when we get back to Boston.” What. We. Have. To. Do. Better. For. Game 5! Man just watched his star player get carted off and still hit us with a “back to business” mindset. Ice in his veins, denial in disguise or a plain forward-thinking approach? Whatever it may be, it better be good for the Celtics. 

Jayson Tatum’s injury in Game 4 vs the Knicks and what it means for the Celtics

Celtics fans have every right to feel cursed. Gordon Hayward’s ankle in 2017. Kyrie Irving’s knee issues. Robert Williams and his knees last postseason. This team knows what it’s like to lose stars when it matters most. Because this time, Jayson Tatum isn’t just the leading scorer. He’s the system. His gravity on offense creates space for everyone else. His defense keeps the perimeter tight. And his leadership grit? The invisible glue.

“Yeah um you know obviously you’re always worried about uh someone’s health so the fact that he had to be carried off uh you know like you said you know he’s the type of guy that when he gets right up so he didn’t and um you know we’ll we’ll we’ll know tomorrow exactly what it is,” Mazzulla said when asked about the impact on the team. He then continued saying, “But uh yeah, I mean it’s tough to watch you know a guy like him get carried off like that,”

By Joe’s words, it is clear that without him, Boston would become a very different team. Still talented, sure, but significantly less terrifying. Jaylen Brown will have to turn into a 40-a-night guy. Derrick White will have to get comfortable being option #2 or even #1. Porzingis and Jrue Holiday? They’ll need to channel their inner chaos and get real scrappy, real fast.

Even Kornet’s minutes start to matter now. The margin for error? Gone. But does it offer the reassurance fans need or is the worst still to come? Because really, don’t kid yourself, the New York Knicks? They noticed.

They were already pushing Boston to the edge. Brunson, even with his injury, has been a surgical assassin, Towns is flying around like a one-man chaos engine, and Tom Thibodeau is coaching like he’s still mad about 2011. If the Celtics show up in Game 5 without Tatum, or even with a compromised version of him, for that matter, the Knicks won’t blink.

MSG might erupt. And Boston? They’ll need to find an identity fast, or risk going from fans’ favourite to fan exit in a matter of days. And look, we all love a heroic comeback story. But this isn’t the movie version. If that MRI shows anything remotely serious, Boston’s front office needs to think long-term. You don’t risk Jayson Tatum’s future for a few extra minutes on the floor just like that. This isn’t just a postseason. This is a legacy in the making. You protect that at all costs.

So… What Now? Now, we wait. With teeth clenched and Twitter on refresh. We wait for that MRI report to drop, and with it, the fate of a team that’s spent the whole year believing this was the one.

But if Tatum’s season ends in a wheelchair exit at MSG? That’s not just a loss. That’s a collapse. A “what if” that haunts the franchise. For now, all eyes are on Boston. And one MRI machine.