After what marked one of the worst postseason performances of his career, Jayson Tatum failed to meet with the media following the Boston Celtics’ 91-90 loss to the New York Knicks in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Wednesday night.
Only it wasn’t his fault.
As documented by multiple reporters who were covering the game, a fire alarm at Boston’s TD Garden forced the building to be evacuated during the postgame press conferences. While it’s unclear what caused the fire alarm to be set off, it appears to have occurred after Celtics forward Jaylen Brown’s postgame press conference had concluded and just before Tatum’s was scheduled to start.
“Fire alarm went off tonight post game and arena was evacuated,” TD Garden said in a statement, according to the Boston Herald. “No one was injured. The cause of the fire alarm is currently under investigation.”
Per the paper, “Boston Fire crews responded to the scene and post-game interviews were cut short as a result of the evacuation.”
Safety concerns aside, that was likely just fine by Tatum, who presumably was in no mood to talk to reporters. Scoring just 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting before turning the ball over on the Celtics’ final possession of the game, the 6-time All-Star’s poor performance played a key role in Boston surrendering a 20-point lead for the second time in as many games this series, with New York capitalizing to take a stunning 2-0 series lead over the reigning NBA champs.
But while Tatum may have avoided the assembled media in Boston on Wednesday night, he wasn’t able to evade criticism elsewhere. In a column for the Boston Herald, Andrew Callahan opined “Jayson Tatum put the Celtics in a 2-0 hole against the Knicks,” while former Celtics center and current ESPN personality Kendrick Perkins stated that he doesn’t see “that dog” in the 27-year-old and said their hopes of winning the series are “done.”
With the series shifting to New York for Games 3 and 4, the spotlight for Jayson Tatum will only get brighter. And considering his team’s 0-2 series deficit, he can only hope that he’ll get another chance to address the media in Boston this season.