Celtics advance to Eastern Conference Finals thanks to Jayson Tatum’s record 51 points in Game 7

Jayson Tatum scored 51 points – the most in a Game 7 in NBA history – and the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 112-88, on Sunday to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight year.

One game after missing 14 of his first 15 shots only to awaken in the fourth quarter, Tatum got off to the fast start the Celtics needed. He scored 25 in the back-and-forth first half and 17 more in Boston’s 33-10 third quarter that turned a three-point lead into a runaway.

The Celtics, who lost to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals last year, will face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, which begin Wednesday in Boston.

Tatum added 13 rebounds and Jaylen Brown scored 25 points for the Celtics, who rallied from a 3-2 deficit in the best-of-seven series to keep alive their hopes for an unprecedented 18th NBA championship. Tatum was subbed out of the game with three minutes left to a standing ovation from the crowd, which soon broke out in a “Beat the Heat!” chant.

Newly crowned NBA MVP Joel Embiid scored 15 points on 5-for-18 shooting, and Tobias Harris scored 19 for Philadelphia. The Sixers lost in the conference semifinals for the third straight year and the fifth time in six seasons; they have not gotten any farther since reaching the NBA Finals in 2001.

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 erupting for 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.

BANGED-UP BROWN

Brown began the game with the black mask he has worn since breaking a bone in his face before the All-Star break. He took it off and soon absorbed an elbow to the face from James Harden, who was assessed a flagrant foul.

He continued without the mask but finished the half with cotton in his left nostril. Brown also played with an edge, making both foul shots and following it with a steal and layup as Boston went on a 9-0 run to erase a 35-26 deficit.

Brown also dove into the Sixers bench to save a ball, then had words with the bench after Georges Niang grabbed his leg and kept him from getting back on the court. Both players were given technical fouls.

Teammate Robert Williams followed the commotion with a layup that tied the score 35-all.

WHAT’S UP, DOC?

Sixers coach Doc Rivers is 6-10 in seventh games. The 10 defeats are five more than any other NBA coach and three more than the NHL’s Mike Babcock and Bruce Boudreau. His teams are 6-16 in their last 22 chances to close out an opponent in a playoff series.

“It’s an honor to keep getting teams to these places,” he said before the game. “There’s people, your friends, who look at you like, ‘Why do you like this?’ And this is what it’s about. You put yourself out there because you want to win. And you know if you do that you have to put yourself in these situations over and over and over again. And it’s worth it. It’s worth it. And that’s what I tell my guys.”

TIP-INS

Tatum is the sixth player since 1997 to score 25 points or more in the first half of a seventh game. The last was Luka Doncic, who had 29 against the Clippers in the first round of the 2021 playoffs. Paul Pierce scored 26 for the Celtics against Cleveland in the second round in 2008. … The 10 points Philadelphia scored were tied for the fewest in any Game 7 quarter in the shot-clock era.