Jayson Tatum hurt again
- Boston lost Jayson Tatum before Game 7 on May 2, then lost the series too — Philadelphia beat the Celtics 109-100 to advance. - The injury was left knee stiffness, not the repaired right Achilles, and it surfaced two days after Tatum exited Game 6 early. - That matters because Tatum was only 22 games into his comeback from last May’s Achilles rupture, so Boston’s timeline suddenly looks shakier.
The Celtics story here is simple, but brutal. Jayson Tatum did not just look limited for a night — he was ruled out of Game 7 on May 2 with left knee stiffness, and Boston lost 109-100 to the 76ers. That ended the Celtics’ season in the first round, which is the real shock. The bigger reason this hit so hard is timing: Tatum had only recently come back from the torn right Achilles he suffered in last year’s playoffs. (espn.com) ### What actually happened? In Game 6 in Philadelphia on May 1, Tatum left Boston’s 106-93 loss with 4:03 left in the third quarter. He went to the locker room, came back to the bench, and never re-entered. Afterward, both Tatum and Joe Mazzulla downplayed it. Tatum said his leg was “a little stiff,” and the pu(espn.com) with left knee soreness and was later ruled out of Game 7 with left knee stiffness. (espn.com) ### Why did this feel bigger than a normal playoff scratch? Because Tatum is not on a normal injury timeline. He tore his right Achilles in May 2025 against the Knicks, had surgery, and spent months rehabbing what is usually close to a year-long recovery. By late September he was already back doing on-court wor(espn.com)ody is under stress everywhere else too, even if the new issue is on the opposite leg. The knee problem was on the left side, not the surgically repaired right side, but fans instantly connected the dots anyway. (nba.com) ### Was this the same leg? No — and that matters. The Achilles tear was in Tatum’s right leg. The Game 7 absence was listed as left knee stiffness, with Mazzulla saying the discomfort was behind the knee and calling Tatum day-to-day. So this was not a re-tear or a direct setback to the repaired tendon. But it still c(nba.com) more testing, treatment, or a gradual ramp. (espn.com) ### How much did Boston miss him? A lot, and in very obvious ways. Without Tatum, Boston rolled out a makeshift starting group with Derrick White, Baylor Scheierman, Jaylen Brown, Ron Harper Jr., and Luka Garza — a lineup that had played zero minutes together before that night. That is not a tweak. That is emer(espn.com)e bad luck in one game and more like the hinge that flipped the whole series. (espn.com) ### Why are people saying “hurt again”? Because the phrase is really about accumulation. First the Achilles last spring. Then the comeback. Then the visible limp and the trip to the locker room in Game 6. Then the late injury-report addition. Then the Game 7 scratch. Even though the medical labels are different(espn.com)ry whether Boston likes it or not. (nba.com) ### What does this mean now? The immediate playoff question is over — Boston is done. The real question now is whether this was just a short-term flare-up in the left knee or a sign that Tatum’s first year back from the Achilles was always going to be uneven. One missed game can be random. One missed Game 7, right af(nba.com)(espn.com) ### Bottom line? Tatum’s latest injury was not another Achilles tear. But it still wrecked Boston’s postseason at the worst possible moment. That’s why this landed so hard — the Celtics didn’t just lose a star for a night, they lost the margin for error around his comeback.
