Is Jayson Tatum playing tonight against the 76ers? Latest injury update on Celtics' star ahead of matchup (14th May 2023)

Down 3-2 in a pivotal Game 6 on the road against the newly-minted MVP, Jayson Tatum struggled to score a bucket from the first quarter until the third quarter as he only had three points on 1-13 shooting. But with the game on the line, down 81-83 with 4:14 left to go in the fourth quarter, Tatum dropped 16 points on all three-pointers to give his team the extensive lead and force a Game 7.

In his sixth-career Game 7, Jayson Tatum is available to play in a win-or-go-home situation. He has the chance to advance past the second round for the fourth time in his career.

The Boston Celtics will need a strong start and finish from their All-Star forward as the Philadelphia 76ers will look to make amends after their Game 6 loss. In this Semifinals round, Tatum is averaging 25.3 points on 41.7% shooting, including 31.9% from three-point range, along with 10.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists.

He has been criticized by the media for his inconsistent outings, whether they be slow starts or subpar fourth-quarter outings, which were evident the most in this second-round matchup. However, the late-game explosion in Game 6 is a testament to Jayson Tatum's mental toughness and maturity to get things done when called upon.

Following the huge win, Tatum spoke with ESPN's Cassidy Hubbarth regarding his mindset in closing the game out for his team despite struggling to shoot the ball all game.

"Humbly, I'm one of the best basketball players in the world," Tatum said. "Go through struggles, go through slumps, it's a long game and thankfully I got some great teammates that held it down. Brogdon, JB, Smart, Al and they all trusted me. "

Jayson Tatum added:

"They told me to keep taking great looks, it's going to fall. Keep impacting the game in other ways and all that matters was we won this game, to give ourselves another chance, to come back at home for Game 7."

Despite the lowly shooting in the first three quarters, Tatum was able to secure nine rebounds, dish out six assists and even had two steals with two blocks. Early on in his career, the four-time All-Star would keep on forcing up shots until one finally goes through. Now, as his game has matured, he has learned to contribute to winning the ball game through other areas such as defense, rebounds and assists.

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Celtics' coach Joe Mazzulla on Jayson Tatum's late-game heroics

During post-game interviews, Celtics' coach Joe Mazzulla spoke about Jayson Tatum's growth and his ability to impact the game without scoring.

"His poise got him going," Mazzulla said. "And so, the standard that is set for him to where if he's not scoring, he's not playing good basketball is wrong. He's had multiple games this series where when he's at his best, he doesn't need to score. He plays with a level of poise regardless of how the game is going."

With as impressive of a fourth-quarter outing as it was for Tatum, the Celtics are going to need even more from the All-Star to finish the series off and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals round.