2023-05-12 03:38:02
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jayson Tatum missed his first six 3-pointers before hitting two in a row that were key in the closing game as the Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 95-86 on Thursday, forcing the Eastern Conference semifinals return to Boston for a seventh game.
The reigning conference champions are in familiar territory. Last season, Boston trailed 3-2 in the second round once morest Milwaukee before winning Game 6 on the road and Game 7 on the road.
Game 7 will be played on Sunday in Boston.
Tatum, who averaged 30.1 points in the regular season, did not give up pitching despite his constant failures. He missed 14 of his first 15 shots from the field, and his ineffectiveness factored in the Celtics’ failure to hold onto a 16-point lead.
With a chance to reach their first conference finals since 2001, the Sixers barely made it through the first half before Joel Embiid dazzled in his NBA MVP form, putting the Sixers on track for a fourth-quarter lead. .
Tyrese Maxey made both free throws with 5:25 to play, in a tight 83-81.
And that was it for the Sixers, as Tatum hit a 3-pointer that would turn the game around, 84-83, and doubled the count with another that would make it 87-83.
Tatum finished with 19 points and shooting 5-for-21 shooting, but his final numbers mattered very little following he was the architect of a 14-3 run that kept alive the Celtics’ hopes of revalidation in the conference, now led by rookie Joe Mazulla.
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