76ers Complete Comeback Against Jayson Tatum-less Celtics In Game 7, Setting Up Clash With Knicks

It will be the Philadelphia 76ers against the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals, courtesy of the 14th 3-1 comeback in NBA playoffs history.

The Sixers won their third straight elimination game with a 109-100 victory in Game 7 on Saturday, eliminating a Boston Celtics team that was missing star Jayson Tatum due to knee stiffness. It wasn’t easy, just like the rest of this series.

The comeback bucks NBA history in multiple directions. Before Saturday, the Celtics were 32-0 in series where they took a 3-1 lead, the most wins without a loss of any team. The Sixers were 0-18 in series where they trailed 3-1, the most losses without a win of any team.

Philadelphia is also the first No. 7 seed to beat a No. 2 seed in the East since the first round was expanded to best-of-seven in 2003. And it’s the 76ers’ first playoff series win since 2023.

Joel Embiid led the way in Game 7 with 34 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 turnover, while Tyrese Maxey had 30 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 turnover. They are the third duo to ever post dual 30-point, 10-rebound Game 7s on the road.

The previous pair: Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant in 2002.

The Sixers-Knicks second-round series begins Monday.

Joel Embiid gets his moment

No player had more riding on this game personally than Embiid, who opened himself up to a barrage of narratives by admitting he was “tired of losing” to the Celtics after Game 6.

The Embiid Sixers were previously 0-3 in series against the Celtics in the playoffs, and Philadelphia hadn’t beat Boston at all in the postseason since 1982. Combine that with Embiid’s lackluster postseason history in general and you had a game where the knives were certain to come out after a Sixers loss.

Embiid didn’t let that happen. He had to fight through multiple injury scares, including when Maxey fell into his knees late in the fourth quarter, but this was his win.

Maxey also came up huge in the fourth quarter, scoring eight of the Sixers’ last 10 points while the Celtics went ice cold with 10 straight missed shots in the final five minutes.

None of this seemed possible when the playoffs started. Embiid had been out since early April due to an emergency appendectomy, the latest chapter in a lengthy injury history, and he didn’t return until Game 4.

He wound up becoming the first player in NBA history to score at least 100 points in a series despite missing the first three games.