The Boston Celtics are one loss away from blowing a 3-1 series lead in the first round of the 2026 NBA playoffs. They lost Game 6 to the Philadelphia 76ers, 106-93, with the series now tied 3-3.
Celtics star Jayson Tatum left the game in the third quarter with a calf injury, not appearing in the fourth quarter as the Sixers' lead grew to 20 points. There's a lot of buzz around Tatum's status for Game 7 given his aggressive return from an Achilles tear suffered last May.
Tatum spoke to reporters in his postgame press conference and shared a status update on his knee while explaining why he didn't check back into the game for the fourth quarter.
"My leg just was a little stiff when I came out, third quarter," he said. "Just kind of assessing in the moment, the game was a little out of reach, so we took the starters out and let the bench go in."
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Tatum put up 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting the field with 11 rebounds and three assists in 28:48 of action. Neither he nor Jaylen Brown could find effective ways of beating the 76ers defense earlier in the game, with coach Joe Mazzulla electing to let all his starters rest while entering the fourth quarter down by 19 points.
Mazzulla also clarified that Tatum's absence in the fourth quarter was precautionary and not due to injury.
"No, he went in the back and just got stretched and got some treatment," Mazzulla said.
Tatum is averaging 23.3 points, 10.7 rebounds and 6.8 assists in the 2026 playoffs. The last time he faced the 76ers in a Game 7 was in the 2023 Eastern Conference semifinals, scoring 51 points as Boston completed a 3-2 series comeback.
The 76ers have lost their last six playoff matchups against the Celtics, with their last series win coming in 1982. They get a chance to finally earn a series win over Boston in Game 7 Saturday, when they could become the 14th team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 series deficit.
