The Philadelphia 76ers held off the Boston Celtics 109-100 in Game 7 on Saturday to complete a 3-1 comeback and advance to the second round.
TOP NEWS
Boston’s starting five showed their inexperience as a unit early, struggling to get much offense going in the first quarter. For the Sixers, Joel Embiid came out strong with 10 points in the first 12 minutes.
After that time frame, the Sixers led by 13.
Almost immediately as the second quarter began, the Celtics started to cut away at the deficit. Boston needed just a few minutes to string together a scoring run and dissolve Philadelphia’s lead completely.
A late-frame back-and-forth ensued as the Sixers held on to enter halftime with a five-point advantage.
Joel Embiid and Jaylen Brown went at each other all night, both physically and verbally.
The third quarter was reminiscent of the game’s opening period, with Embiid and the Sixers regaining a sizable advantage. But Philadelphia failed to truly mount a gigantic lead, something that would haunt them later on. Entering the final quarter, the Sixers’ lead had ballooned back up to 13.
Once again, the Celtics hit the ground running after the break. An extended 25-8 Boston scoring run gave the Celtics all the momentum, but Tyrese Maxey went to work in the clutch.
At the same time, Embiid came up limping after a play and was holding his knee.
After the Sixers got several stops on defense, Maxey got downhill to the rim on two occasions with one minute to play, pulling ahead by five points.
On the other end, Brown and Derrick White each had open looks from three, but couldn’t find the nylon. The long-range shooting struggles were a theme all night for Boston.
In the closing moments, Maxey sank two huge free throws to make it a seven-point lead and secure the victory.
Embiid led all scorers with 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists while Maxey put up 30 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
For the Celtics, Brown 33 points nine rebounds and four assists as White has 26 points and six rebounds.
The Sixers will now face the New York Knicks in the second round.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
