Jayson Tatum reunited with Celtics teammates in New York City after surgery

NEW YORK — The Celtics visited Jayson Tatum on Thursday in New York City ahead of their Game 6 matchup against the New York Knicks.

Tatum underwent surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles on Tuesday in New York after suffering the injury in Monday night’s Game 4. So, he was still at the team hotel when the Celtics arrived.

“It was really good seeing him,” Pritchard said. “Obviously he’s out of surgery. It seemed like he was in really good spirits. He’s probably about to be stir crazy for a while now, but it’s just good 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.”

While their leading scorer, rebounder, and playmaker recovers, the rest of the Celtics will look to keep their season alive tonight in Madison Square Garden. But, as they reunited with Tatum, the conversation didn’t touch on the current situation the team is in.’

“We didn’t talk about basketball at all,” Pritchard said. “That stuff is bigger in basketball now — it’s just seeing how he is in person, how he’s feeling and stuff. The basketball side, we’ll handle that. But just wanted to check in as a friend.”

Pritchard said that, as they face elimination once again, the Celtics are ready for war.

“We just don’t want to go home,” Pritchard said. “We’re gonna do everything we can to lay it all on the line every second of the game. If it’s a rebound, we’re gonna go after, if it’s a loose ball, we’re going after that. This group is a bunch of competitors, people that love to play ball, and it’s fun to go to war with people like that.”

Sam Hauser said that it was good to see Tatum, and agreed with Pritchard that he was in good spirits. In his absence, the Celtics are hoping to keep their season alive.

“It sucks to see someone like that go down,” Hauser said. “He doesn’t deserve it, but he wouldn’t want anything more than us to just keep winning.”