Jayson Tatum showed up in the biggest moment of the season on Thursday night. Tatum scored 16 points in the fourth quarter after a 1-13 shooting start from the floor to spark the Boston Celtics to a 95-86 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in game six of an Eastern Conference Semifinal Playoff series at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The series is tied 3-3 with a decisive seventh game back in Boston on Sunday.
Despite another bad start from Tatum in the must win game, Boston did get off to a really good start with a 12-0 run to get out to a 15-3 lead early. Philadelphia responded with a 9-0 spurt, but it was the Celtics by seven after the opening 12 minutes. The guests would go up as many as 16 in the second quarter on two occasions on a Malcolm Brogdon reverse layup and a layup by Marcus Smart, but again the 76ers hung around and sliced the margin to 50-43 at the break. Tatum was 0-10 from the field in the first half with a free throw for just one point (The 0-10 is the worst in any half for him regular season or playoffs). His 0-19 shooting in the first quarter in the last three games is the most consecutive misses in an opening period by a player in the last 25 postseason appearances for the team. 15 points by Smart, 13 from Brogdon, and 11 from Jaylen Brown were big for the C’s to take a lead and keep it at the intermission.
After the Boston lead went back to 10 early in the third quarter, Philadelphia took their first lead of the night on two James Harden free throws as part of 16-4 run at 64-62 with 4:37 left. They would lead by as many as five points. Tatum did hit his first field goal of the night in the quarter after 12 consecutive misses. The 76ers used two more free throws very late in the period by Harden to take a 73-71 heading to the fourth. Philadelphia took their final lead of the night 83-81 on two free throws from Tyrese Maxey on a clear path foul by Tatum with 5:57 left to play. And then Tatum got hot at the right time to fuel the victory. He nailed three-pointers on consecutive possessions 40 seconds apart to give the Celtics the lead for good. He would score 12 of his teams final 14 points to set up the deciding game at TD Garden with a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals on the line.
Smart was the high scorer in the win finishing with 22 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and two steals. Tatum would end up with 19 points (5-21 from the floor), also adding in nine rebounds, six assists, two steals, and two blocks. Brown had 17 points, Brogdon 16, and Robert Williams III who started in the game also got into double figures with 10 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks. Joel Embiid and Maxey both had 26 points in the loss for Philadelphia. Embiid also had 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. The 76ers are still seeking their first appearance in the Conference Finals since 2001. Game seven is set to tipoff at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday in Boston.
Story by Chris Lessner/Highlights courtesy of the NBA website
