Jayson Tatum, Celtics decided following 'return to play protocol' for left knee stiffness meant missing Game 7 vs. 76ers
Tatum was unable to follow the progression from light activity to full practice during a 48-hour period
Jayson Tatum met with the media on Sunday following the Boston Celtics’ Game 7 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in their NBA first-round playoff series and explained why he wasn’t able to play. in the early afternoon on Saturday, Tatum was initially listed as questionable with left knee stiffness, But that status changed approximately two hours before tip-off and Tatum was ruled out for the win-or-go-home showdown in Boston. Tatum confirmed he was feeling tightness in the back of his left knee and was technically still in the “return to play protocol,” which requires a progression from light activity (such as an exercise bike or jogging) to non-contact activity, then practice with no restrictions on contact over a 48-hour period.
The training staff and Tatum stuck to that plan and that meant being unavailable on Saturday, despite the stakes of a Game 7. Jayson Tatum explained why he couldn’t in Game 7: “The staff, the medical team, they just kind of assessed everything that was going on. And I was in the window of return-to-play protocol, and there were just certain rules and a plan that, ultimately, that we had to stick by.
” pic. twitter. com/8IHiAApdwY — Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) May 3, 2026 If the Celtics had advanced to the second round, Tatum said his status would have been day-to-day and he would have been available to play at some point against the Knicks.
Tatum added that he felt an injury like this may have been inevitable after returning from his torn Achilles sustained last year. (His knee injury was to the left leg, while the Achilles rupture occurred in his right. ) “I guess a little to be expected,” Tatum said, via CelticsBlog’s Noa Dalzell.