Jayson Tatum hampered by ankle as Celtics fail to make history - ESPN
BOSTON — After Jayson Tatum trudged to the podium inside TD Garden long after the Boston Celtics saw their season come to an end with a 103-84 loss in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, there was a visible limp from the sprained ankle he suffered on the opening play of the game.
«It was just frustrating that I was… a shell of myself,» Tatum said after he played 42 minutes and finished with 14 points on 5-for-13 shooting in the loss, which ended the Celtics' season and also denied them the chance to become the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-0 series deficit.
«It was tough to move. Just frustrating, it happening on the first play.»
There was much for the Celtics to be frustrated about, beginning with Tatum having the bad luck of landing on Heat guard Gabe Vincent on the first possession of the game. But that was far from the only thing.
The Celtics followed up their worst shooting game of the season (7-for-35) in Game 6, by shooting 9-for-42 in Game 7 to equal their second-worst shooting performance of the season. Boston played seven games this season in which it shot under 26% from 3-point range, and Game 6 was the only one the Celtics came away from with a win.
Meanwhile, Boston watched as Caleb Martin continued his series-long assault on their defense, going 11-for-16 and scoring 26 points, while Eastern Conference finals MVP Jimmy Butler contributed 28 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals.
The Heat shot 14-for-28 from 3-point range Monday night and were 28-for-58 over the final two games of the series.
«We got punked,» Celtics forward Grant Williams told ESPN. «We didn't play our game from start to finish. Defensively, we just lost it all, and then offensively we were scrambled and trying to do