The Boston Celtics defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 112-88 on Sunday to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the second consecutive year. Jayson Tatum scored 51 points, the highest in Game 7 in NBA history.
Tatum got off to the quick start the Celtics needed after missing 14 of his first 15 shots the previous game before being awake in the fourth quarter. He scored 17 additional points in Boston’s 33-10 third quarter, which turned a three-point advantage into a rout. He scored 25 points in the back-and-forth first half.
With a third-quarter outburst of 33 points against the 76ers, Boston opened up a competitive game. Jaylen Brown contributed 25 points for Boston.
Before the fourth quarter began, Philadelphia had gone six minutes without scoring and trailed by 26 points. Boston then increased their lead to 30 points with less than four minutes remaining after Tatum was substituted.
Ben Simmons Trolls the 76ers
The exiled former first-round choice of the 76ers was relaxing on his couch and watched Game 7 on Sunday. He uploaded an image to Instagram to record his afternoon. There was no caption on the post. However, the score on his TV made the point quite clear: Celtics 108, 76ers 78.
In the most recent Game 7 disaster, an embarrassing defeat to the Atlanta Hawks in the conference playoffs in 2021, Simmons received harsh criticism for his poor offensive performance. Simmons was eventually dealt to the Brooklyn Nets during a messy divorce and without appearing in another game with the Philadelphia 76ers after being called out by Joel Embiid and Doc Rivers.