BOSTON (AP) — Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals, beating the Jayson Tatum-less Boston Celtics 109-100 on Saturday night to complete the NBA’s 14th comeback from a 3-1 deficit.
Embiid finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Tyrese Maxey added 30 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. V.J. Edgecombe had 23 points and Paul George had 13.
Philadelphia, the No. 7 seed, will visit No. 3 New York on Monday night in Game 1 of the second round.
The Sixers franchise, including its time as Syracuse Nationals, improved to 2-10 in road Game 7s. Its only other win came in 1982 at the Boston Garden.
Jaylen Brown led Boston with 33 points and nine rebounds. Derrick White had 26 points, including five 3-pointers. Neemias Queta finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds. The Celtics struggled from the 3-point line for the third straight game, finishing 13 of 49.
The second-seeded Celtics made their earliest exit from the playoffs since the 2020-21 season. Boston fell to 32-1 when leading a series 3-1.
The Celtics played without Tatum after he was ruled out about 90 minutes before tipoff with left knee stiffness.
Philadelphia led for all but 31 seconds in the game, increasing a five-point halftime edge to 18 points in the third quarter.
It was down to 13 at the start of the fourth and Boston opened the period on a 16-4 run to pull within 92-91.
Philadelphia got small cushions, with the Celtics cutting it to a point three additional times.
The 76ers were leading 101-98 when Maxey got free for a layup with 1:15 remaining. Boston missed its next four shots and Philadelphia pushed it to 105-98 on a pair of free throws by Maxey.
Coach Joe Mazzulla said Tatum came to the team facility Saturday with knee discomfort, and the medical team decided for him not to play. Tatum briefly left Game 6 in the third quarter for unspecified treatment to his left calf. Mazzulla downplayed the significance, saying initially Tatum would play in Game 7.
With Tatum out, Mazzulla made radical changes to the starting lineup, opting to start Baylor Scheierman, Luka Garza and Ron Harper Jr. alongside Brown and White.
It marked the first time that the group started together this season.
It ultimately made for a slow start to the game for the Celtics, who quickly fell into a 9-0 hole.
Mazzulla made his first substitution at the 7:58 mark of the opening period, inserting Payton Pritchard for Harper. Queta subbed for Garza a little over two minutes later. Sam Hauser replaced Scheierman at 4:39.
Philadelphia led by as many as 15 in the period and carried a 32-19 advantage into the second quarter.
Unlike in their losses in Games 5 and 6, the Celtics weren’t as quick to fire up 3s, instead opting to attack the interior of Philadelphia’s defense more to get easier looks.
It began to gain traction in the second quarter with Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez injecting some energy on the floor with their hustle and scrappiness defensively. Boston started the period on an 18-4 run to take its first lead of the night, 37-36, on a 3-pointer by Pritchard.
But the 76ers withstood the punch and took a 55-50 edge into halftime.
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