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Payton Pritchard Reacts to Jayson Tatum’s Unexpected Move Before Celtics-Knicks Game 6

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Elie Deglaoui | Last updated May 16, 2025 1:45 PM ET

In a Game 4 loss against the New York Knicks, the Boston Celtics lost star Jayson Tatum as he suffered an Achilles injury late in the fourth quarter. Tatum underwent surgery and will be out for the rest of the playoffs with no concrete timetable for his return.

Despite being without their star player, the Celtics defeated the Knicks on Wednesday night and will look to tie the series on Friday to force a Game 7. The winner of the series will meet the Indiana Pacers in the conference finals.

According to Celtics writer Chris Forsberg, Tatum waited for his teammates at the hotel when they arrived in New York on Thursday in a bit of a surprising move.

After Tatum's unexpected move, Celtics teammate and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard spoke about it and provided a bit of insight from a mental perspective.

Though Tatum will be out for the rest of Boston's playoff run, it is clear that he will still support the team in any way he can. And, according to Pritchard, that support goes both ways.

“It seemed like he was in really good spirits," Pritchard said about Tatum. “When you see one of your brothers and teammates go through a situation like that, you just want to be there to comfort anything he needs.”

Payton Pritchard said it was really good to see Jayson Tatum:

“It seemed like he was in really good spirits.”

“When you see one of your brothers & teammates go through a situation like that, you just want to be there to comfort anything he needs.”

(Q: @RealBobManning) pic.twitter.com/b0CN5G2htO
— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) May 16, 2025

Boston is 2-0 this postseason with their six-time All-Star, and they will look to continue this streak on Friday night. Though they are still down 3-2 against New York, the series is not over, and the Celtics will aim to pull off the comeback and advance to the conference finals for the fourth consecutive year.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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