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Joel Embiid showed just how tired of losing to the Celtics he was — he overpowered the Celtics inside and scored 16 of his 34 on the night in the paint, plus he pulled down 12 rebounds. He was the best player on the court and a force all night.
And he got help, especially from Tyrese Maxey, who scored eight straight points in the clutch, finishing with 30 on the night.
Embiid also got help from the Celtics, who shot just 13-of-49 (26.5%) from 3-point range on the night and were 0-of-9 in the clutch (the final five minutes).
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All of that combined to give the 76ers a 109-100 victory and make history: Philadelphia beat Boston in a Game 7 for the first time since 1982. It’s the first time the 76ers have ever come back from 3-1 down to win a series in franchise history, and also the first time Boston has ever lost a series up 3-1 (it is now 32-1).
Philadelphia advances to take on a rested New York Knicks team starting Monday night in Madison Square Garden.
“What changed this series is Joel Embiid came back and they’re a completely different team,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said.
Boston had to play Game 7 without star Jayson Tatum, who was ruled out earlier in the day with left leg stiffness. It’s a sad way for Tatum’s season to end after he battled back from a torn Achilles last playoffs to be on the court for his team in this series, only not to be able to play in the biggest game of the season.
On the other side, this was a cathartic moment for Embiid, who was 0-for-3 in Game 7s in his career — and was gutting it out at the end. He earned this win, and in the final minutes was playing through a sore knee after Maxey had fallen into him.
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This night went Philadelphia’s way from the start.
With Tatum out, Mazzulla tried to inspire his team by making a dramatic change to his starting lineup. Only Brown and White remained as starters from Game 6, with Baylor Scheirman, Luka Garza and Ron Harper Jr. getting the start.
It didn’t work. Boston started 1-of-7 from the floor with three turnovers and was quickly down nine, which grew to 13 points by the end of the first quarter. Boston became the first…
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Publish date : 2026-05-03 02:52:00
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