76ers complete 1–3 comeback, beat Celtics in Game 7 to win series

The NBA part is simple: Philadelphia went into Boston on Saturday, May 2, and won Game 7, 109-100. The bigger part is why that landed so hard. The 76ers were down 3-1 in the series, had never won a playoff series after falling behind that way, and were staring at the usual ending to a weird season. Then they flipped it. Joel Embiid was the anchor, Tyrese Maxey was the accelerator, and Boston never really got control back. ### Why is this such a big deal? Because 3-1 comebacks are still rare, even in a league that loves dramatic swings. This was the 14th time in NBA history that a team erased a 3-1 series deficit, and it was the first time the Sixers had ever done it. Philadelphia had been 0-18 in series where it trailed 3-1 before this one. That turns a nice road win into franchise-history stuff. ### What did Game 7 actually look like? It was not one of those coin-flip finishes where nobody knows who deserved it. Philadelphia led for all but about one minute of the game and punched first with a 32-19 opening quarter. Boston made runs, but the Sixers kept answering. The shape of the game mattered — Philly wasn’t hanging on at the end so much as managing a lead it built early. ### How good was Embiid? He gave them the version of a superstar you need in a road Game 7. Embiid finished with 34 points, hitting 12 of 26 shots and 9 of 11 free throws. That stat line doesn’t just say “high usage.” It says he carried the offense through the ugly stretches too, when half-court possessions start feeling like heavy furniture. ### Where did Maxey fit in? Maxey was the release valve and the pressure point at the same time. He scored 23 in Game 7, and the bigger context is that he had already detonated Game 6 with 30 points to force the decider. That’s why this comeback doesn’t read like a one-man rescue. Embiid was the center of gravity, but Maxey kept Boston from loading every answer onto one body. ### What went wrong for Boston? The cleanest explanation is that the Celtics never found their usual comfort. Jayson Tatum did not play in Game 7, and Boston’s offense spent too much of the night trying to manufacture points instead of flowing into them. Jaylen Brown scored 33, but the Celtics were chasing the game from the first quarter substitutions, all of it. ### Why does the matchup context matter? Because this was a No. 7 seed taking out a No. 2 seed on the road, and because Boston is not just any opponent for Philadelphia. NBA.com noted this is the Sixers’ first playoff series win over the Celtics since 1982. So the result works on two levels — bracket upset and old-rival scar tissue. ### What happens next? Philadelphia moves on to the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks. That means the comeback is no longer just a story about survival. It changes the East bracket immediately, and it gives the Sixers a very different emotional runway than a team that merely escaped. They now look like a dangerous lower seed instead of a fun first-round problem. ### Bottom line? This was the kind of win that rewrites how a season is remembered. A team that looked finished at 3-1 down is suddenly in Round 2, Embiid finally has a signature closeout over Boston, and Maxey’s rise feels even more real. For one night, at least, the Sixers stopped feeling cursed and started feeling live.