The Boston Celtics might have to face the Philadelphia 76ers in a do-or-die Game 7 without star Jayson Tatum, who was listed as questionable for Saturday night’s game with left knee stiffness.

Tatum did not play in the last 15 minutes of Thursday’s Game 6 — a 106-93 loss to the Sixers in Eastern Conference first-round play — and was riding an exercise bike in the hall during the fourth quarter.

Tatum appeared to downplay the issue after the game, telling reporters, “You guys probably saw when I went to the back, saw me on the bike. My leg just was a little stiff when I came out in the third quarter. But just kind of assessing the moment, the game was a little out of reach.”

The sore knee is not related to last May’s devastating ruptured right Achilles tendon, Tatum said. That injury knocked him out in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks and kept him off the court until March 6 of this season.

“It was my other leg, not the one I injured last year,” Tatum said Thursday. “I mean, I wasn’t like overly concerned. … I came out at four minutes, like I was supposed to. Just kind of assessed the game. (Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla) took the starters out fairly early in the fourth quarter.”

Mazzulla told reporters on a conference call Friday afternoon that Tatum would be available for Game 7, and Tatum said at Thursday’s postgame press conference, “I expect to play.”

Tatum has averaged 23.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game in the series against the Sixers.

In Game 3, Tatum became the fourth player in Celtics history to top 3,000 career postseason points. Tatum (3,005) trails three legends — Kevin McHale (3,182), John Havlicek (3,776) and leader Larry Bird (3,897).

Tatum, 28, is a six-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA first-team selection and a two-time Olympic gold-medal winner for Team USA. Through 601 career NBA games, Tatum is averaging 23.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists.

For the Sixers, Paul George was listed as probable with an illness for the game on his 36th birthday. Joel Embiid (post appendectomy) also is listed as probable, while Tyrese Maxey (finger) is available.

–Field Level Media

FORT WORTH, Texas — During a question-and-answer session with reporters on Friday afternoon, Austin Dillon made a comment about Richard Childress Racing teammate Kyle Busch that raised eyebrows.

“I talked to Kyle, and his next win is going to be the biggest of his career, if you think of it the right way,” Dillon said.

That’s a bold assertion, given that Busch has amassed 63 NASCAR Cup Series victories during a career that has consumed more than two decades and produced two Cup championships. The list includes victories in such Crown Jewel events as the Brickyard 400 and Coca-Cola 600.

However, Busch is currently in the throes of a winless streak that reached 103 races last Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. That’s what prompted the comment from Dillon, who has a vested interest in the organization founded by his grandfather, Richard Childress.

“All the stuff that has been said and brought up over this year, I feel like if he puts his head down and takes that team back to Victory Lane, that’s going to be the biggest win of his career,” Dillon said.

“So, that’s what we’re all fighting for. We want to see that. As a competitor, that’s what I’d like to see.”

Busch won three races in 2023, his first season with RCR and the second year of NASCAR’s Gen 7 race car. His victory at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on June 4, 2023 was his most recent.

After a barren first 10 races of 2026, RCR announced a crew chief change on Busch’s No. 8 Chevrolet, with Andy Street replacing Jim Pohlman in that vital role.

“We’ve got to put the train back on the tracks and have a direction of what we need to do in order to be able to go forward,” Busch said after finishing second in Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.

“I feel like the 3 car (Dillon) has done a good job of that lately. Those guys are clicking on all cylinders and making things look good for them, and we’ve got to be able to do the same so we can carry our weight and help improve the program.”

CHRIS BUESCHER HOPES TO END JINX AT HIS HOME TRACK

To say Texan Chris Buescher has been snakebit in his home state is putting it mildly.

In 16 starts at Texas Motor Speedway, Buescher has never scored a top 10. He has led just two of the 5,006 laps he has run at the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway. His average finish is 21.9.

Nevertheless, Buescher frequently has shown speed at Texas, and he’s looking for a breakthrough in Sunday’s Wurth 400 Presented by LIQUI MOLY (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“We’ve had more tire failures here than any other race track,” Buescher said. “Early on, we came here and had speed, but we were still understanding the new (Gen 7) car, the sensitivities to having tire blowouts.

“We’ve had days here when we’ve been pretty good, and it’s started drizzling–the great fog from five or six years ago, right? Unfortunately, I was the one who found the moisture that ended the race for three days before we got back going…

“You go through the years here, and I feel like we’ve had very few days here where we haven’t been competitive, but, man, the stats don’t show that. I hope we fix that this go-round–I think we can.”

CHALLENGING TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY HAS FEW MASTERS

Perhaps the most telling statistic relative to the difficulty of Texas Motor Speedway is the active streak of top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile track.

Daniel Suarez leads the category with three straight top 10s. Austin Dillon has two. No other NASCAR Cup Series driver has more than one.

“That’s not very long,” Suarez said with a laugh. “We’ll take the small victories, right? It’s just very tricky. It doesn’t take a lot for you to crash or get out of the groove. I love it, though. I think it’s a great race track.

“I would say that five, eight years ago, more drivers used to hate this track, but right now, the race track is getting to a point where it’s not a brand new race track anymore. It’s tough. There are some bumps. It’s getting some wear. So, it’s a lot of fun.”

The consensus among Cup drivers is that passing is difficult at Texas because of the narrow nature of the racing line. Suarez doesn’t see it that way.

“I think it’s already to the point where we have two-and-a-half lanes in (Turns) 1 and 2 and maybe two or two-and-a-quarter lanes in 3 and 4,” Suarez said. “I think it’s getting wider every single year, so that’s positive.”

PIT CREW IS A CONSISTENT ASSET FOR JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK

For the past two seasons, John Hunter Nemechek’s pit crew has been a consistent presence at LEGACY Motor Club.

“We have some new guys and also some veteran guys,” Nemechek said on Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway. “I think my front tire changer Scottie (Brzozowski), I think pitted for my dad (Joe Nemechek) back in the early 2000’s. He’s been changing tires for 20 plus years and still (has) some of the best metrics as far as tire changers go.”

In fact, Brzozowski was a mainstay at Hendrick Motorsports, where he changed tires for both Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 team and Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88.

“It’s pretty cool to be able to have a group of guys like that,” Nemechek said of his crew. “It’s the same group that I’ve had the last two years as well. We took everything in-house, I think it was ‘25. I think that was when we started taking everything in-house.”

— By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter George Springer left Saturday’s game against the Minnesota Twins in the third inning when he was hit on the left foot by a pitch from Connor Prielipp.

Springer went down in pain after he was hit by an 88.2 mph slider and was replaced by pinch runner Jesus Sanchez.

Springer, who led off the game with a line drive out to center field, had just returned this week from the injured list after he fractured his left big toe on a foul ball April 11.

In 18 games this season, Springer is batting .212 with two home runs and seven RBIs. In 1,462 career games, he is a .266 hitter with 295 home runs and 803 RBIs over 13 seasons for the Houston Astros (2014-20) and Blue Jays.

–Field Level Media