76ers win Game 7, oust Celtics 109-100 to reach second round

Philadelphia just pulled off the kind of playoff win that changes how a whole run feels. The 76ers went into Boston on Saturday, won Game 7 by a 109-100 score, and finished off a comeback from a 3-1 series hole. That matters on its own. But the bigger thing is who they did it against, where they did it, and how steady they looked for most of the night. This was not a lucky escape. It was a real closeout. ### How big was this comeback? Pretty huge. Philadelphia became the 14th team in NBA history to win a series after trailing 3-1, and it was the franchise’s first-ever success from that spot after starting 0-18 in those series. Boston had been 32-0 all time when leading a series 3-1, so both sides brought some heavy history into the game — and the Sixers flipped it anyway. ### Who drove the win? Joel Embiid was the anchor. He finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists. Tyrese Maxey gave Philadelphia the burst it needed with 30 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists. VJ Edgecombe added 23 points, which set a Sixers rookie record for points in a Game 7. That balance mattered because Boston kept making mini-runs, but Philadelphia always had another answer. ### What did the game actually look like? Philadelphia grabbed control early and mostly kept it. The Sixers led 32-19 after the first quarter and, by NBA’s live recap, held the lead for all but one minute of the game. Boston made it tense late — because of course a Game 7 gets tense late — but the Sixers never fully lost the start. Philly was in front and making Boston chase. ### What was Boston missing? Jayson Tatum. He was out with knee stiffness, which changed the whole feel of Boston’s offense and put even more pressure on Jaylen Brown and Derrick White. Brown still scored 33. White had 26. But without Tatum, the Celtics had less shot creation, less late-game margin, and less room for error against a Philadelphia team that was already playing with elimination-game urgency. ### Why does this hit so hard for Boston? Because this is not just a Game 7 loss. It is a first-round exit after holding a 3-1 lead. It happened at home. And it came against a rival the Celtics had dominated in this matchup for decades. Philadelphia hadn’t won a playoff series over Boston since 1982. So the result lands as both a current collapse and a break in a very old pattern. ### What does Philadelphia get now? The Knicks. Philadelphia advances to the Eastern Conference semifinals and will face New York next. The regular-season series was split 2-2, with the home team winning all four games, and the Knicks have won seven of the last nine meetings overall. So the reward for surviving Boston is another nasty, emotional East series right away. ### Why does this feel different for the Sixers? Because the usual Philadelphia playoff script is the collapse. This time, the collapse belonged to the other team. Embiid gave them star power, Maxey gave them pace, and the group held up under the hardest version of the test — a road Game 7 against Boston. Basically, they didn’t just advance. They broke a pattern that had followed the franchise for years. ### Bottom line? The 76ers didn’t just steal a series. They erased a 3-1 deficit, won a Game 7 in Boston, and turned a fragile first round into a real second-round threat against New York.