Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics crushed the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 of their second-round series Sunday afternoon, 112-88, to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight season. Meanwhile, the 76ers — who haven’t advanced past the second round since 2001 — see their season end in the second round for the third year in a row.
Tatum kept the momentum going from his strong fourth quarter in Game 6 and turned in an absolutely dominating performance in the final game. The Celtics star forward scored 51 points, an NBA record for most in a Game 7, on 17-of-28 shooting from the floor. He also added 13 rebounds and five assists to his stat line. With Tatum alone doing much of the scoring, the Celtics didn’t need much scoring production from the rest of the roster, but Jaylen Brown contributed 25 points, six rebounds and two assists in the win, and Boston outscored Philly 33 .-10 in the third quarter to turn things into a blowout.
While Boston’s stars showed up, Philadelphia’s simply didn’t, and that was the difference in the game. James Harden had an incredibly poor performance, and NBA MVP Joel Embiid wasn’t much better. Harden mustered just nine points, seven assists, six rebounds and five turnovers while shooting 3-for-11 from the floor. Embiid shot just 5-for-18 and totaled 15 points and eight rebounds. When your two best players combine for 24 points, you’re not going to win too many games, especially in the playoffs.
The Sixers now enter what promises to be an intense offseason, while the Celtics move on to face the Miami Heat in the conference finals. These two teams also met in the conference finals last season and in the Orlando Bubble in 2020, so they certainly know each other.
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