Joel Embiid’s great night, Boston’s missed 3 helps the 76ers complete the 3-1 comeback to win the series
Joel Embiid showed how to do it tired of losing to the Celtics it was: He overpowered the Celtics inside and scored 16 of his 34 points that night in the paint, as well as pulling down 12 rebounds. He was the best player on the pitch and was a force all night.
And he got help, especially from Tyrese Maxey, who scored eight straight points, finishing with 30 on the night.
Embiid also got help from the Celtics, who shot just 13 of 49 (26.5 percent) from 3-point range on the night and were 0 of 9 in deep play (in the final five minutes).
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All of this gives the 76ers a 109-100 win and makes history: Philadelphia beats Boston in Game 7 for the first time since 1982. It’s the first time the 76ers come back from 3-1 to win a series in franchise history, and also the first time Boston loses a series with a 3-1 lead (it’s now 32-1).
Philadelphia advances to face a rested New York Knicks team starting Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
“What has changed this series is that Joel Embiid is back and they are a completely different team,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said.
Boston had to play Game 7 without star Jayson Tatum, who was ruled out earlier in the day with left leg stiffness. It’s a sad way to end Tatum’s season after he fought back from a torn Achilles in the last playoffs to be on the field for his team in this series, only to be unable to play in the biggest game of the season.
On the other hand, this was a cathartic moment for Embiid, who was 0-for-3 in Game 7 in his career — and was gutting at the end. He earned this win and played with a sore knee in the final minutes after Maxey fell on him.
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This night was Philadelphia right from the start.
With Tatum out, Mazzulla looked to inspire his team by making a radical change to his starting lineup. Only Brown and White remained starters from Game 6, with Baylor Scheirman, Luka Garza and Ron Harper Jr. starting.
It didn’t work. Boston started 1 of 7 from the floor with three turnovers and quickly trailed by nine points, leading by 13 points at the end of the first quarter. Boston became the first team in NBA playoff history to have three scoreless starters (Scheirman, Garza and Harper).
Things started to change in the second, and Boston went on a 22-6 run behind White as it got red hot and Mazzulla leaned more on guys he’d been around all season like Payton Pritchard and Neemias Queta. The situation also started to change as the Celtics hit their 3-pointers. After going 2-for-12 from deep in the first quarter, they went 5-for-7 in the second and Derrick White led the way with 19 points. However, Philadelphia led by five at halftime, 55-50. Embiid had 19 points, five rebounds and five assists in the first half, plus a monster block on Brown at the rim.
White only had seven points in the second half.
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“[VJ Edgecombe] came out at halftime said ‘I got White’….” Philly coach Nick Nurse said. “White was cooking and I think he had 2 points in the 3rd quarter. Those are the things that make a big difference in these games.”
The third quarter looked a lot like the first, except Mazzulla went small for a stretch and Embiid started to take over, overpowering Brown in the post and talking to him the entire time. Mazzulla was counting on the triples made, but the Celtics hit just 4 of 17 in the quarters (23.5%) while the 76ers scored comfortably every time down. The lead was 13 after three.
Boston started the quarter on a 16-4 run, and suddenly it was a one-point game. Boston was hitting the ground running on drives, not settling for 3s, and got some old-school 3-point plays, while their zone defense confounded the 76ers, who started to play slowly. With that said, Philly took the punch from Boston, stood tall, and the game remained close the rest of the way.
However, in the clutch, Maxey took over for Philadelphia as Boston lost control from 3, and ultimately that was the game. And the series.