-
Tim Bontemps
multiple authors
Boston–It took 44 years, but philadelphia 76ers have finally defeated boston celtics In a playoff series.
Arguably the best playoff performance behind joel embiidIn his career, the 76ers made a heart-stopping claim 109-100 victory in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series. Philadelphia became the 14th team in NBA history to come back from down 3–1 to win a best-of-7 series.
“It feels good to win,” Embiid said. “Obviously, we had a bigger goal in mind. But it feels great to finally beat these guys.”
Before Saturday’s win, the 76ers had gone an NBA-record 0-18 when trailing 3-1 in the series. Boston was 32–0 when taking a 3–1 series lead.
Philadelphia defeated Boston in the playoffs for the first time since 1982, snapping a streak of six consecutive series losses – the last three of which involved Embiid. The two teams have played each other in 23 series, more than any other matchup in NBA playoff history.
Behind Embiid’s 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. tyreese maxiWith 30 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists – making them the first teammates in NBA history to each have at least 30-10-5 in a Game 7 – the 76ers finally won against one of their oldest rivals.
“I really wanted the ball,” Maxi said of his heroics in the final game. “At the beginning of the fourth, we went to Joel, and I felt like it was time for me to step up and make a play.”
The 76ers advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where they will face another longtime rival, the New York Knicks, who eliminated Philadelphia from their last trip to the playoffs two years ago. That series will start from Monday.
The Celtics suffered a blow just hours before tip-off on Saturday when they refused jayson tatum For Game 7 due to left knee stiffness.
“He just came in today with a knee soreness,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said during pregame media availability, minutes after Tatum was officially ruled out. “And we, the medical staff and I, made the decision that he was not going to play.”
Without Tatum, Mazzulla started derrick white, baylor sheyerman, jaylen brown, Ron Harper Jr.. And luca garzaA lineup that had never played together before Boston’s biggest game of the season. That unit was outscored by seven points to start the game, and Boston struggled almost as hard the rest of the way. Mazzulla never returned to the lineup.
“Yeah, I mean, I thought there were some things that we looked at tactically that we wanted to test, you know, obviously give the series a little different feel and take advantage of the roster that we have and take advantage of guys that can impact the game and other things,” Mazzulla said about his starting lineup after the game. “So, I thought it was great by people, and we failed.”
Philadelphia took an early 15-point lead in the first quarter, but Boston erased that deficit in the second quarter and took its only lead of the game. The 76ers regained control at the end of the second quarter and throughout the third quarter.
The 76ers went on a 14-3 run at the end of the third quarter – much of it with Embiid on the bench – and pushed their lead to 84-66. But the Celtics battled back in the fourth quarter, getting within one point on four separate occasions.
Philadelphia’s offense remained sluggish for most of the quarter, and the Celtics, riding the energy provided by a boisterous sellout crowd, appeared as if they might deliver another devastating loss to the 76ers.
Brown’s bucket cut the 76ers’ lead to 97–96 with 5:02 remaining, after Boston missed 10 consecutive shots. And although Philadelphia also missed some shots during that stretch, Maxey made back-to-back layups that put the game out of reach.
“Yeah, it was great,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. “Obviously, they were on a lot of time, and he didn’t turn on the jets much all night… but then he made a couple, and they were huge.”
While Philadelphia ultimately enjoyed getting the best of Boston in the playoffs, the Celtics were trying to make sense of how quickly their season had ended. Six days earlier, the Celtics had demolished the 76ers 128–96 in Philadelphia in Game 4 to spoil Embiid’s return.
At that time, hardly anyone expected that the 76ers would counter-attack.
But they did so in Game 7 with Tatum unavailable. Boston is entering the summer having failed to advance beyond the first round for only the second time in the last decade. The Celtics are hoping a full offseason for Tatum to recover from his right Achilles tear, which he suffered a year ago this week, and some offseason additions will have them competing for a championship again next year.
However, the Celtics were defiant about their season and their outlook.
“There’s no feeling of regret whatsoever,” said Brown, who led Boston with 33 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks. “Obviously, we would have liked to have closed it out… but Philadelphia is a good basketball team, and they’ve gotten better since the regular season.
“This is the playoffs. We knew it would be a battle, and we expected nothing less. No heads down. No regrets.”
