Jayson Tatum set another NBA Game 7 record by scoring 51 points, as the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 112-88 on Sunday to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year.
Tatum broke the record set two weeks ago by Stephen Curry, who scored 50 points in Game 7 of the Golden State Warriors first-round series against the Sacramento Kings.
Jayson Tatum started the game at a fast pace and followed it up with a finish the NBA was yet to see, with 17-of-28 from the field, 13 rebounds, and five assists, thus, becoming the fifth player in NBA history with at least 50-10-5 in a playoff game.
The Celtics star scored or assisted on 62 points in Game 7, surpassing the Sixers’ star duo of Joel Embiid (15 points) and James Harden (nine points), who combined to score or assist for 44 points.
The Celtics, who were defeated by the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals last year, will now face the Miami Heat in the East finals for the second straight season. Game 1 is on Wednesday in Boston.
“I was relieved just to get another chance. Our season could have been over after Game 6,” said Tatum, who broke the Game 7 record of 50 points Stephen Curry set two weeks ago. “It definitely was on my mind that I had played as bad as it could get, for 43 minutes.
“We had a saying: ‘It’s only up from here.’”
Tatum added 13 rebounds and Jaylen Brown scored 25 points for Boston, which picked from a 3-2 deficit in the series to keep up their hopes for an unprecedented 18th NBA championship.
“You always come into a series with the expectation of how it’s supposed to go, that’s not how the playoffs are,” said Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla.
Tatum was later substituted out of the game with three minutes left and the crowd thanked him with a standing ovation with chants of “Beat the Heat!”.
The Philadelphia 76ers’ have lost in the conference semifinals for the third straight year and the fifth time in six seasons.
“I thought we had the right group. I really did,” said Sixers coach Doc Rivers, said, lamenting the team’s defeat. “We played great all year and this loss absolutely diminishes what we did this year in some way. … I think this team is headed right. I thought we took another step this season. And then tonight I think we took a step backward. But that’s OK. That happens, too.”
Tatum started 0 for 6 in a Game 5 loss and missed 14 of his first 15 shots overall from the floor in Game 6 before making four 3-pointers in the final 4:14 to force the decisive seventh game.
He picked up where he left off, scoring Boston’s first basket and 11 points in the first quarter, 14 more in the second, and outscoring the Sixers on his own, 17-10, in the third. The 33-10 edge in the third was the most lopsided quarter in a Game 7 since at least 1997.
