Jayson Tatum, Celtics Beat Joel Embiid, 76ers to Advance to ECF vs. Cavaliers
Gordon Hayward? Hurt the first night of the season. Kyrie Irving? Sidelined for the year.
Whatever. The Boston Celtics still got it done.
Jayson Tatum scored 25 points, including a go-ahead layup with 22.5 seconds remaining, to help the Celtics advance to the Eastern Conference Finals with a 114-112 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.
The Celtics advance to play the Cleveland Cavaliers, a matchup many predicted in the preseason—just not remotely in the way either team pulled it off.
The Celtics expected this matchup to be a rematch of Irving and LeBron James, the man the All-Star requested a trade away from over the summer after three successful seasons together. They expected to have Hayward and Al Horford along for the ride, a formidable Big Three to go against James, Kevin Love and Isaiah Thomas—the All-Star guard they sent to Cleveland in exchange for Irving.
Perhaps Tatum and Jaylen Brown would emerge as promising young role players.
Whoops.
Irving and Hayward are hurt. Thomas never fit in with the Cavs. Tatum and Brown, meanwhile, have emerged as future stars who have helped spearhead the Celtics' run to the conference finals.
The pair combined for 27 of the Celtics' 53 second-half points. Brown was their lone bastion of efficiency down the stretch, scoring 16 points and making six of his eight shots in the final two quarters. No other Celtics so much as made half their shots. He was responsible for all three of their three-pointers after the break.
Tatum stayed aggressive despite a 2-of-8 shooting performance, getting to the line nine times (making seven). He was far more efficient in the first half to take the Celtics into the break with a nine-point lead.
Horford finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, five steals and three assists. He played some of the best basketball of his life on both ends of the floor in the fourth quarter, picking up steals and finishes near the basket.
Terry Rozier (17 points), Aron Baynes (13 points, nine rebounds) and Marcus Smart (14 points) were also in double figures.
The Sixers' effort was led by a pair of double-doubles from Joel Embiid (27 points, 12 rebounds) and Dario Saric (27 points and 10 rebounds). Ben Simmons had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Despite their good stat lines, these were far from flawless performances. Too many times Embiid post-ups led to black-hole possessions without passes. He also missed a potential game-tying shot and tip-in with 11 seconds remaining before the ball careened off his body.
Saric also turned the ball over with 37.8 seconds remaining, leading to the possession that ended in Tatum's layup.
The Cavs and Celtics open their conference finals series Sunday.
