Joel Embiid came back from an appendectomy. Then, he helped his Philadelphia 76ers back from 3-1 down. He is not done yet.
Embiid finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists as the 76ers beat the Boston Celtics, 109-100, in Game 7 on Sunday at TD Garden to complete the NBA’s 14th comeback from a 3-1 series deficit. The No. 7 seed Sixers advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals, where they will visit the No. 3 New York Knicks on Tuesday for Game 1.
Tyrese Maxey added 30 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. V.J. Edgecombe scored 23. Paul George had 13. The 76ers led for all but 31 seconds of the entire game—and held on when Boston made it interesting late.
Jayson Tatum Out, Celtics Undone
The game was defined before it started by news that landed roughly 90 minutes before tip-off: Jayson Tatum would not play. The Celtics star was ruled out with left knee stiffness—a concerning development given that he had briefly left Game 6 for treatment on his left calf. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla had downplayed the situation after that game, saying Tatum would be available for Game 7. He was not.
Mazzulla responded by overhauling his starting lineup entirely, going with Baylor Scheierman, Luka Garza, and Ron Harper Jr. alongside Jaylen Brown and Derrick White—a group that had never started together once in the entire season. The result was predictable. The Celtics fell into a 9-0 hole immediately, and Mazzulla made his first substitution less than four minutes into the game. Philadelphia led by as many as 15 in the opening period and carried a 32-19 advantage into the second quarter.
To Boston’s credit, the Celtics fought back. Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez provided energy and defensive scrappiness off the bench. Rather than forcing three-pointers as they had in their Game 5 and 6 losses, the Celtics attacked the interior and found better looks. An 18-4 run in the second quarter turned the deficit into a lead—Payton Pritchard’s three-pointer giving Boston its only advantage of the night at 37-36. Philadelphia absorbed the punch, steadied, and took a 55-50 edge into halftime.
Brown led the Celtics with 33 points and nine rebounds. White contributed 26 points on five three-pointers. Neemias Queta posted 17 points and 12 rebounds. But Boston shot just 13-for-49 from three—the third consecutive game the Celtics struggled from deep—and without Tatum, they never had the individual quality to sustain the pressure they needed.
How the 76ers Closed It
The 76ers extended their five-point halftime lead to 18 in the third quarter before Boston opened the fourth on a 16-4 run to pull within 92-91. What followed was a tense, grinding final stretch. The Celtics cut it to one point three separate times, and Philadelphia kept finding just enough cushion to stay ahead.
The dagger came with 1:15 remaining. Leading 101-98, Maxey got free for a layup to push the margin to five. Boston missed its next four shots. Maxey added a pair of free throws to make it 105-98, and the Celtics were done.
What It Means
The second-seeded Celtics—who were 32-1 all-time when leading a series 3-1—made their earliest playoff exit since the 2020–21 season. Philadelphia improved to 2-10 in road Game 7s in franchise history, including its time as the Syracuse Nationals. Their only other road Game 7 win came in 1982. At the Boston Garden. The same building where they finished this one on Saturday.
Embiid played 17 days after an appendectomy. He went from hospital to elimination game to comeback in a span that tested every part of what he has. And the 76ers did what almost nobody does—climb out of a 3-1 hole on the road in the final game.
Philadelphia is moving on. Boston is going home. Nobody saw that coming two weeks ago.
