After watching the Boston Celtics get completely blown out by the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night, Stephen A Smith had no choice but to backtrack on his earlier prediction on the game. Smith previously stated how he believes Jayson Tatum will dominate this do-or-die contest only to be proven completely wrong in Monday's lopsided contest.

Stephen A has now provided some context on Tatum's performance and how his ankle injury early in the game pretty much doomed the Celtics in Game 7. Smith believes that it would have been the Celtics who are now headed to the NBA Finals against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets had it not been for Tatum's injury:

“Sad for Jayson Tatum,” Smith said. “I think that Jayson Tatum, a superstar in this game, may have experienced an entirely different outcome if Jayson Tatum hadn't rolled over and twisted his ankle (in) the first offensive play of the game. Now for those that sit up there saying you don't want to hear that, all I'm gonna remind you is this: This is the Jayson Tatum that dropped 51 in a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. This is the same Jayson Tatum that has career averages in Game 7s of 28.8 points on 50 percent shooting and 48 percent shooting from three-point range. That Jayson Tatum.”

Tatum's injury in the first quarter was an undeniably tough blow for the Celtics — one that they ended up not being able to recover from. Jayson Tatum stayed in the game and played through the injury, but it was clear that he was significantly bothered by the same.

According to Stephen A, this game would have had an entirely different outcome if Tatum was healthy. Given the Celtics superstar's history in Game 7s, it's hard not to see the point in Smith's statement here.