Celtics’ Jayson Tatum listed as questionable for G7 vs. 76ers
BOSTON — In a probably seismic growth, Boston Celtics celebrity Jayson Tatum was a late addition to the damage report with left knee soreness Saturday afternoon, roughly six hours earlier than the Celtics will host the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal collection, the conclusion of the most recent installment of one of many league’s oldest rivalries.
He is listed as questionable.
It was Tatum’s proper leg that he suffered the torn Achilles in final May — with the one-year anniversary developing on Wednesday of this week — and that he returned from again in March, solely to rapidly start to resemble the participant that has constantly been among the many league’s finest for the previous a number of seasons.
But it was his left that gave the impression to be a difficulty when he left Boston’s 106-93 loss to Philadelphia in Game 6 Thursday evening with 4:03 to go within the third quarter and by no means returned to the sport. He went again to the locker room for some time, earlier than coming again to the bench early within the fourth quarter.
At that time, Boston declared Tatum was out there to return to the sport. However, across the similar time Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla — with Boston trailing 88-65 with 10:24 remaining within the fourth quarter — selected to wave the white flag and put in his deep reserves for the remainder of the sport.
“Just wanted to give the game a different feel,” Mazzulla stated in explaining his resolution to tug the starters. “I think all year we’ve had 14, 15 guys be able to impact winning, and just wanted to give the game a different look.”
When each Mazzulla and Tatum have been requested about his well being, nonetheless, they each downplayed that there was any difficulty.
“No,” Mazzulla stated when requested if Tatum had gotten damage. “He just went to the back and just got stretched, got some treatment. That was about it.”
For his half, Tatum stated, “Yeah, you all probably saw when I went to the back, saw me on the bike. My leg just was a little stiff when I came out in the third quarter. But, you know, just kind of assessing the moment, like, the game was a little out of reach.
“We took the starters out and let the bench guys go in.”
Mazzulla again downplayed the potential for Tatum to have an issue on a conference call with reporters Friday — only for Tatum to then suddenly pop up on the injury report early Saturday afternoon, putting his availability in doubt for what could be Boston’s final game of the season.
Saturday’s Game 7 will have plenty of history on the line for both sides. This is the 23rd time the two teams have squared off in a playoff series — the most times any two teams have played each other in the postseason in NBA history. Boston, meanwhile, has won six consecutive meetings between the two teams in the playoffs, going all the way back to 1982 — the last time Philadelphia won an NBA title.
The Celtics have also been Joel Embiid‘s greatest nemesis within the playoffs over the course of his profession. Tatum and the Celtics have knocked Embiid out of the playoffs thrice already: a five-game loss within the 2018 convention semifinals, in a 2020 first-round sweep and in 2023 in a second-round collection that went the space after the Celtics got here from behind to win Game 6 in Philadelphia.
Boston, which led this collection 3-1 earlier than Philadelphia received Game 5 right here Tuesday and Game 6 again in Philly on Thursday, has gone 32-0 in its historical past when main 3-1 in a best-of-seven collection. The 76ers, then again, are 0-18 when dealing with that situation — the worst mark in NBA historical past.
