Celtics' Brad Stevens Reveals Severity of Jayson Tatum's Injury

Celtics' Brad Stevens Reveals Severity of Jayson Tatum's Injury originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Boston Celtics were eliminated by the Philadelphia 76ers in seven games in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, and Jayson Tatum missed Game 7 of the series.

Tatum exited Game 6 early with a leg injury, and the initial belief was that he would be good to go for Game 7. However, just hours before the game, it was announced that he would not play due to knee stiffness.

Tatum tore his Achilles tendon last year, so the Celtics may have been taking a very cautious approach with their superstar. On Wednesday, Brad Stevens spoke about the severity of Tatum's injury and the decision to keep him out of Game 7.

“You probably could see it at the end of Game 6," Stevens told reporters on Wednesday. "We thought it would dissipate and be okay the next day. He didn't do very much on Friday and just rested. He came in on Saturday morning and tried to do a workout. I watched it, and it clearly didn't feel right. I think it’s not a long, long-term concern, but it certainly didn't look right when he was working out. It made sense to be smart about that. The obvious answer is that any time you're coming back from an injury like he was coming from, there's a tendency to overcompensate.”

Tatum is the Celtics' best player and one of the best players in all of basketball. If he were able to play, the Celtics may be in the middle of their next series. However, that was not the case, and they are now focused on improving their team for next season. The only bright side is that Tatum's injury is not something that the team anticipates keeping Tatum out to start the season.

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