BOSTON -- Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum said it was "unfortunate timing" that he was forced to watch Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers from the bench in street clothes because of left knee stiffness.
Speaking a day after he missed the Celtics' 109-100 loss in Game 7, Tatum elaborated on his comeback from last season's torn right Achilles, along with his recent knee injury.
"My recovery and comeback [from the Achilles injury] were going so well that how it ended, I didn't think it was going to end that way. It was just unfortunate," Tatum said Sunday.
"I worked really, really, really, really hard to come back in the fashion that I did and play at the level I was playing at. So for it to end the way it did was a tough pill to swallow."
The sudden and shocking end to the Celtics' season was a tough pill to swallow for the group. Boston became just the 14th team in NBA history to blow a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series -- and the fourth to do so with homecourt advantage.
In addition, Tatum's sudden change in status -- from not on the injury report to questionable with left knee stiffness Saturday afternoon, to ruled out less than two hours before Game 7 tipped off at TD Garden -- was the focal point of much of Sunday's discussion.
Tatum had appeared to be bothered by something in the second half of Boston's 106-93 loss in Game 6, though it was unclear whether he could've returned to the game after Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla waved the white flag with 10:24 remaining in the fourth quarter and Boston trailing by 23 points.