Embiid and Maxey carry Sixers
- Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey pushed Philadelphia past Boston 109-100 in Game 7 on May 2, completing a 3-1 comeback and reaching New York. - Embiid put up 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists; Maxey added 30, 11 and seven as Philadelphia became the 14th team to erase 3-1. - The twist is Boston was missing Jayson Tatum, and now the No. 7 seed Sixers head straight into a Knicks semifinal.
Philadelphia just pulled off the kind of playoff win that changes the mood around a whole team. The 76ers beat the Celtics 109-100 in Game 7 on Saturday, May 2, and finished a comeback from down 3-1 in the series. Joel Embiid was huge. Tyrese Maxey was huge too. And now a season that looked half broken a week ago suddenly has a second-round date with the Knicks. ### What actually happened in Game 7? Embiid led the way with 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Maxey gave Philadelphia 30 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Rookie VJ Edgecombe chipped in 23, and the Sixers did enough late to hold off Boston after the Celtics made a push in the fourth. The final score was 109-100, on Boston’s floor, in a winner-take-all game. ### Why does this one feel bigger than a normal Game 7? Because Philadelphia did not just survive a close series — it came all the way back from 3-1 down. That made the Sixers the 14th team in NBA history to win a best-of-seven series after trailing 3-1. ### So was it really Embiid and Maxey carrying them? Basically, yes. The cleanest way to see it is the stat line: both guys posted 30-point, 10-rebound games, and both were also creating for others. That is rare in any playoff game. In a Game 7 on the road, it is even rarer. One report flagged them as the first duo ever to each post at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a Game 7. ### What is the catch? Boston was not whole. Jayson Tatum did not play, which changes the shape of the series and the way this result gets judged. The Celtics still had enough talent to make it dangerous, but any honest read has to include that absence. Philadelphia deserves credit for finishing the job — but this was not a full-strength defending power standing in front of them. ### Why was Maxey so important late? Because Embiid can bend a game for 48 minutes, but Maxey changes the temperature. Boston made a late run, and Maxey answered with key baskets that kept the Sixers from spiraling. That has been his real value next to Embiid — not just scoring volume, but the ability to steady the offense when the game starts tilting. ### What changes now? The opponent. Philadelphia moves on to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals,
