Is Jayson Tatum playing tonight against Miami Heat? Latest injury report from Boston Celtics (Oct. 27)

Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics take on their arch-rivals Miami Heat in their home opener on Friday night. The two teams did not face off in preseason and are meeting for the first time since their brutal Eastern Conference Finals series last year.

The heavily favored Celtics dropped three straight games to the eighth-seeded Miami Heat to go down 3-0 before forcing a Game 7. The series, though, ended with the Celtics missing the NBA Finals after losing Game 7 at home.

The two teams have a long history in the Eastern Conference playoffs, and whenever they face off, we can expect a nail-biter. The fanbases of the two franchises hate each other, and the games get quite intense.

However, the Boston Celtics have the fortune of playing against an incomplete Miami lineup. The Heat have listed five players as injured, while the Boston Celtics have a clean injury report. Jayson Tatum, despite an injury scare, will lace up.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are both available for the matchup. They played heavy minutes alongside Kristaps Porzingis in their season opener against New York.

Surprisingly, the Celtics have had an empty injury report for two straight games, something unusual in the load management era of the NBA.

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Jayson Tatum elects to skip surgey on wrist despite discomfort

Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics

Jayson Tatum declared that he was playing through pain during the 2022 NBA playoffs after losing in the Finals to Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors.

He has been dealing with discomfort in his left hand wrist for over a year but refuses to get surgery, as he reckons it isn't necessary.

Tatum was expected to get the operation this summer but after speaking to several specialists and doctors, he decided against it. ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported on the matter on the show "NBA Today:"

"He went into the offseason thinking he might need surgery on his non-shooting wrist. He went to a bunch of specialists and essentially decided, 'I'm not going to get this surgery, I don't need it.' Got a cortisone shot and he told me he said it feels really good."

What isHe dropped 34 points and 11 rebounds in the season opener against New York, so he does look healthy and pain-free.

Only time will tell if his decision to take cortisone shots over surgery was the right choice. He cannot afford to have another postseason dealing with pain because the Boston Celtics are, once again, the early season favorites to win the title.