FINALLY, the C’s showed just how good they can be. On the back of a historical, epic performance from Jayson Tatum, the Boston Celtics utterly annihilated the 76ers 112-88 in Game 7 to win the series and earn a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals.
And here I thought Jayson Tatum couldn’t have a better performance than what we saw in Game 6.
The Boston Celtics finally buried the nail in the 76ers playoff coffin as they destroyed Philadelphia 112-88 in front of a raucous Boston crowd to not only win the series and set up a 2022 ECF rematch with the Miami Heat, but also ensure they have homecourt advantage for the rest of the playoffs. And, this win was all because of one man: Jayson Christopher Tatum.
After posting some of the worst performances I’ve ever seen from a franchise superstar player in the first halves of Games 4, 5, and 6, Tatum finally got his shooting touch back as he simply torched the 76ers for 25 PTS in the 1st half alone.
Along with Jaylen Brown (25 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST, 2 STLs, 2 BLKs), Tatum was driving almost all of the offense for the Celtics as he not only scored 45% of all the Celtics points, but he also ensured the C’s took a 55-53 lead out of a half that saw them go down by as many as 12 points to the 76ers.
Now, one would be forgiven to think that Tatum had essentially done his job up to this point and the rest of the team, such as Marcus Smart (7 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST, 1 BLK), Al Horford (6 PTS, 10 REB, 3 AST, 2 STLs, 3 BLKs), Robert Williams III (6 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL), Malcolm Brogdon (12 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST), and Derrick White (3 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 1 BLK), would need to get in on the scoring to secure a Boston victory.
Well, thankfully for all Celtics fans, that did happen to a certain extent, yet Tatum wasn’t content with a “meager” 25 points in this game. No, Tatum went on to score an NBA Game 7 record 51 PTS, 13 REB, 5 AST, 2 STLs and shooting 17-28 (61%) from the field and 6-10 (60%) from the 3-point line as he literally torched the 76ers right out of Boston.
In the all-decisive 3rd quarter that saw the Celtics go on a 21-3 run (hey, haven’t I seen that score before?) and post a 33-10 quarter victory, Tatum actually outscored the entire 76ers roster alone with 17 points to the actually meager 10 scored by the 76ers.
This has to be one of the Top-5 greatest Game 7 performances of all-time as Tatum not only proved his MVP level under the brightest lights, but also did it against two actual MVPs in James Harden (2018 MVP) and Joel Embiid (the current MVP).
Now, I can’t write an article about this game without praising the life out of Al Horford, Robert Williams, Marcus Smart, the entire Celtics defense, and head coach Joe Mazzulla as they managed to completely negate two of the league’s most dominate players ever in James Harden (9 PTS, 6 REB, 7 AST, 2 STLs, 1 BLK, 3-11 FG shooting, 1-5 3-point shooting) and Joel Embiid (15 PTS, 8 REB, 1 AST, 2 BLKs, 5-18 FG shooting, 0-4 3-point shooting).
Embiid and Harden were less helpful than betting on a snail in a 500-meter sprint as neither player scored more than 15 points, shot higher than 30%, or had more than 20 FG attempts. You honestly could have brought back Julius “Dr. J” Erving (73 years old) and Moses Malone (unfortunately passed away in 2015) from retirement and the grave, respectively, and they would have done a better job yesterday than Harden and Embiid.
That’s how effective the Celtics defense was against the most prolific scoring duo in the league last year (Harden lead the league in assists with 10.7; Embiid led the league in PPG with 33.1)
However, even with the Celtics defenders being sensational in mitigating their impact on the court, posting the kind of stats they had shows this 76ers team lacks the killer instinct. The 76ers shot just 37.3% from the field (31-83), 21.6% from beyond the arc (8-37), were outrebounded 43-37, committed 14 turnovers to the Celtics’ 8, and were equal with the Celtics in points scored in the paint (44).
Yes, a team with Joel Embiid couldn’t outscore a team without a 7-foot-tall player in rim scoring.
If you’re Harden or Embiid, you can’t be outscored by P.J. Tucker (11 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 1 BLK) and Tobias Harris (19 PTS, 5 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL), respectively, in a winner-take-all, franchise altering Game 7 matchup against team’s most hated rival.
Yet, with the 76ers now going 22 years without a Conference Finals appearance (7 with Embiid and the Process), such timidness in the face of adversity and challenge is becoming more of a tradition than an issue for a franchise that’s always come up short when the stage is at its biggest.
We’ll have to see if Doc Rivers, James Harden, and GM Daryl Morey come back next season as serious changes have to be made in Philadelphia or else all of Embiid’s prime years (he’s 29 now) will be wasted on mediocre teams.
As for the Celtics, this may very well turn out to be a season-defining victory.
Everyone predicted this team’s demise after that horrible Game 5 victory that saw them fall 3-2 in the series, yet two straight elimination game victories prove this team has the killer instinct required to win a championship.
Jimmy Butler, Erik Spoelstra, and the Miami Heat are going to be a serious challenge to overcome in the Conference Finals, but this Celtics team now has the reassurance they can beat the best and most fearsome opponents in this league under even the direst circumstances (aka: facing elimination in Game 6 at Philadelphia). And that’s invaluable when it comes to the playoffs.
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