76ers beat Celtics 109-100 in Game 7
- Philadelphia beat Boston 109-100 in Game 7 on Saturday night, finishing a 3-1 comeback and knocking the Celtics out of the first round. (apnews.com) - Joel Embiid put up 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists, while Tyrese Maxey added 30 and 11 against a Celtics team missing Jayson Tatum. (aljazeera.com) - The win sends the 76ers to an Eastern Conference semifinal against the Knicks and gives Philadelphia its first 3-1 series comeback ever. (nytimes.com)
Philadelphia’s season looked cooked a week ago. The 76ers were down 3-1 to Boston, staring at another spring collapse, and the Celtics still had th(apnews.com) 2 at TD Garden, finished the comeback, and pushed Boston out of the playoffs in the first round. (apnews.com)me 7s in Boston are hard, but because Philadelphia had to win three straight after falling behind 3-1. That made this the franchise’s first (nytimes.com)ayoff escapes. (nytimes.com) ### Who actually won the game? Joel Embiid was the center of it. He finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists, and Tyrese Maxey gave Philadelphia the second star it needed with 30 points and 11 reboun(apnews.com) — a post touch for Embiid, a downhill burst from Maxey, or both. (aljazeera.com) ### What happened to Boston? The biggest swing factor was Jayson Tatum not playing. Boston went into Game 7 without its best scorer because of a left knee inju(nytimes.com)offense in a Game 7 usually comes down to one player who can bend everything. Boston didn’t have that release valve. (msn.com) ### Did the Celtics still have a chance? Yes — and that’s what made the ending tense instead of ceremonial. (aljazeera.com)na into chaos. But Philadelphia was steadier in the possessions that decide these games — fewer empty trips, more paint pressure, and better execution when the score tightened. That’s basically the difference between “survived” and “advanced comfortably.” (nytimes.com) ### Why does Embiid’(msn.com)shing plays — he was controlling them. In a Game 7, that kind of stat line means a star is solving multiple problems at once: getting buckets, ending defensive possessions, and forcing the defense to react to his passing. (aljazeera.com) ### What changes for Philadelphia now? The bracket opens up differently. Instead of going home, the 76ers move on to face the New York Knicks (nytimes.com)onversation around the team from disappointment to possibility — especially because Maxey looked like a true co-lead next to Embiid in the biggest game of the series. (msn.com) ### What does this mean for Boston? It means a brutal ending to a season that carried much bigger expectati(aljazeera.com)m injury softens the blame a little, but only a little — because the larger story is that Boston had control of the series and let Philadelphia take it away. (apnews.com) ### Bottom line? This was the kind of playoff win that changes the emotional direction of a team overnight. Philadelphia didn’t just win a Game 7 — it climbed out of a 3-1 hole, go(msn.com)ion of a playoff ending — one where the collapse is the story. (apnews.com)
