Tim Bontemps
Multiple Authors
BOSTON — In a potentially seismic development, Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum was a late addition to the injury report with left knee soreness Saturday afternoon, roughly six hours before the Celtics will host the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, the conclusion of the latest installment of one of the league’s oldest rivalries.
He is listed as questionable.
It was Tatum’s right leg that he suffered the torn Achilles in last May — with the one-year anniversary coming up on Wednesday of this week — and that he returned from back in March, only to quickly begin to resemble the player that has consistently been among the league’s best for the past several seasons.
But it was his left that appeared to be an issue when he left Boston’s 106-93 loss to Philadelphia in Game 6 Thursday night with 4:03 to go in the third quarter and never returned to the game. He went back to the locker room for awhile, before coming back to the bench early in the fourth quarter.
At that point, Boston declared Tatum was available to return to the game. However, around the same time Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla — with Boston trailing 88-65 with 10:24 remaining in the fourth quarter — chose to wave the white flag and put in his deep reserves for the rest of the game.
“Just wanted to give the game a different feel,” Mazzulla said in explaining his decision to pull 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 both Mazzulla and Tatum were asked about his health, however, both downplayed that there was any issue.
“No,” Mazzulla said when asked if Tatum had gotten hurt. “He just went to the back and just got stretched, got some treatment. That was about it.”
For his part, Tatum said, “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 in doubt his availability 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 biggest nemesis in the playoffs over the course of his career. Tatum and the Celtics have knocked Embiid out of the playoffs three times already: a five-game loss in the 2018 conference semifinals, in a 2020 first-round sweep and in 2023 in a second-round series that went the distance after the Celtics came from behind to win Game 6 in Philadelphia.
Boston, which led this series 3-1 before Philadelphia won Game 5 here Tuesday and Game 6 back in Philly on Thursday, has gone 32-0 in its history when leading 3-1 in a best-of-seven series. The 76ers, on the other hand, are 0-18 when facing that scenario — the worst mark in NBA history.
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