{"id":717863,"date":"2026-04-25T17:03:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T17:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/717863\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T17:03:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T17:03:23","slug":"jayson-tatum-unloads-feelings-on-big-moment-in-76ers-celtics-game-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/717863\/","title":{"rendered":"Jayson Tatum Unloads Feelings on Big Moment in 76ers-Celtics Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – MARCH 25: Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics looks on during the first quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder at TD Garden on March 25, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and\/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Maddie Meyer\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Less than one year ago, Jayson Tatum<\/a> went down with an Achilles injury that took him out of the playoffs for the Boston Celtics<\/a>. On Friday night, Tatum hit a dagger against the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> to steal Game 3 on the road in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst playoff road game I\u2019ve been in since I got injured,\u201d Tatum said on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, just the environment, circumstances of being tied 1-1, knowing what\u2019s on the line, and just being in a position to kind of seal the game. As a competitor, as a basketball player, you just see those emotions come out in those moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tatum was fired up in front of a Philly crowd that was silenced. Although the Joel Embiid-less 76ers put up a great fight after they picked up a shocking Game 2 win on the road in Boston, Tatum put them down with a shot that not many stars in the league can take and make in that moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think just off the initial shot with [Nikola Vucevic], the play had started when [Derrick White] made a hell of a play in the offensive rebound. That was big. We just kind of got our space and found a matchup that we wanted and attacked,\u201d Tatum said, reflecting on the play.<\/p>\n

The Sixers Give Tatum A Memory That Will Last
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

GettyBOSTON, MA \u2013 APRIL 19: Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics shows off his jersey before Game One of the Eastern Conference First Round NBA<\/a> Playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers at TD Garden on April 19, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and\/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo By Winslow Townson\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

A lack of execution in the final minute for the Sixers surely caused them to drop the ball. The second-seeded Celtics made the 76ers pay.<\/p>\n

Tatum was searching for a critical playoff moment to ignite him, and he got one at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just missed being a part of moments like that, where it\u2019s a back-and-forth game,\u201d Tatum admitted after the game. \u201cSometimes, we had some moments where things didn\u2019t go our way, and then we had to fight back and get the lead, and it was just a figure it out type of game and make winning plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tatum checked in for 42 minutes on Friday night. He shot 9-17 from the field and made 5-9 shots from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

The veteran forward also contributed five rebounds, seven assists, and one steal.<\/p>\n

When Could The 76ers Bounce Back?
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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA \u2013 MARCH 3: Tyrese Maxey<\/a> #0 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on against the San Antonio Spurs<\/a> in the second quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena on March 3, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mitchell Leff\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

With Tatum getting that big moment out, the 76ers will have to make sure they don\u2019t go back to Boston empty-handed.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the two teams will meet for a Game 4 battle. It\u2019s unclear if the 76ers will get a Joel Embiid<\/a> boost or not, but either way, they need to take care of business if they want to keep the series alive.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tJustin Grasso<\/a> Justin Grasso is an NBA reporter, covering trending league news, transactions, injuries, and player developments. He is a credentialed journalist with nearly a decade of insider access. More about Justin Grasso<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – MARCH 25: Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics looks on during the first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":710508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3766],"tags":[7,45,75,3798,46,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-717863","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-celtics","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-bostonceltics","12":"tag-celtics","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116466431234148098","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/710508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}