Team USA squeezed past Turkey with a 93-92 overtime victory in their FIBA World Cup showdown on Tuesday. However, they did not come out of it unscathed, as starting forward Jayson Tatum turned his ankle in the dying seconds of the game.
Brian Windhorst of ESPN confirmed that Tatum will miss at least the next two games for Team USA. The Boston Celtics forward suffered the injury as he drove through traffic on the fast break during the closing seconds of overtime.
After two missed free throws from Cedi Osman, Tatum grabbed the board and went coast-to-coast. He drove into traffic and dished the ball to a streaking Khris Middleton, who was fouled on a layup attempt.
After passing off to Middleton, who nailed the two free throws to give Team USA the lead and the win, Tatum appeared to have stepped on the foot of one of the Turkey players. He came up hobbling shortly after and had to get helped off the court.
This is definitely a bummer for Team USA. They're already depleted as constructed given many stars revoked their commitment to the team even prior to the tournament. Now, one of the squad's key players goes down with injury.
Tatum nailed two clutch free throws out of three with 0.1 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. He finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes.
Team USA has already booked a ticket to the second round with two wins in a row. The Americans will face Japan on Thursday for their final assignment in Round 1.
Team USA's first game of the second round will be on Saturday, which the Celtics youngster will also miss. Tatum is scheduled for reevaluation on Monday, right before the Americans play their second game of Round 2.
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