Jayson Tatum pours in 39 points to lead Celtics past Grizzlies, says knee is fine after late-game collision

Ja Morant crashed into Tatum's legs while the two chased a loose ball in the final minute

Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics stayed hot on Monday night, as the superstar forward poured in 39 points to lead his team to a 109-106 victory on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Celtics have now won three games in a row to improve to 7-3, which is tied for the fourth-best record in the league. 

Even better news is that Tatum avoided an injury during his scary late-game collision with Ja Morant. With just under 30 seconds to play, the Celtics were trying to put the game away when Marcus Smart's pass was deflected. Tatum and Morant both raced after the ball, and Morant crashed into Tatum's legs as he dove to try and gain possession. Tatum collapsed to the ground in pain and Morant was called for a foul on the play. 

Tatum stayed down clutching his knee, and was still grabbing at it once he eventually got to his feet and limped to the foul line. He missed both of those free throws, but later drained a pair with 2.2 seconds remaining to help seal the win. After the game, he told reporters that the team's medical staff looked at his knee after the game and everything is fine. 

"It was just kinda like a weird fall," Tatum said. "He dove for it, I tried to pick it up get out of the way, nothing intentional. I guess his knee collided with mine, so I felt a little discomfort there. But I obviously kept playing, got it looked at, so I'm fine."

That's certainly great news for the Celtics, as Tatum has been tremendous to start the season. This was his fourth game with at least 35 points; only the Mavericks' Luka Doncic has more with six. Through 10 games, he's putting up 31.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, four assists and a career-high 1.5 blocks per game, while shooting 49.7 percent from the field and 36.9 percent from 3-point land. 

Even more encouraging is that he's improved his finishing at the rim and is getting to the free throw line at will. He's shooting 79.6 percent in the restricted area and averaging 8.9 free throws per game, both of which are career-highs. Those skills were on full display against the Grizzlies, as he made 7 of his 8 attempts at the rim and got to the line for 16 free throws. This was his second game this season with at least 15 free throw attempts; in his first five seasons combined he had three such games. 

Tatum and the Celtics will look to keep things rolling on Wednesday night when they host the Detroit Pistons.