Celtics Advance To ECF After Jayson Tatum Scores 51 vs. Sixers

(CTN News) – Jayson Tatum of the Celtics yelled to a raucous Boston crowd after making his second 3-pointer of the game midway through the third quarter Sunday.

Tatum scored 51 points to lead the Celtics to a 112-88 victory in Game 7 to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. Curry scored 50 points in Game 7 of the Golden State Warriors’ first-round series against the Sacramento Kings two weeks ago.

The five-time NBA champion went 17-of-28 from the field, added 13 rebounds and five assists in the playoffs.

Marcus Smart said it was like a movie. It’s a big movie. Just sit back and watch.”

As a result of his worst shooting night of his career in Game 6, Tatum responded with one of his best performances. In Game 7, he scored 62 points or assisted on 44 points, outperforming Joel Embiid (15 points) and James Harden (9 points).

ESPN tracking data says Tatum scored 51 points in the half court against five different defenders, including 17 against Embiid. The sold-out crowd at TD Garden sang “MVP” at Tatum by the end of the game, a career-best finish.

Tatum called Sunday a chance for the Celtics to redeem themselves after they lost in Boston last time, drawing boos. Game 6 began with Tatum shooting 1-for-13 through three quarters.

During Sunday’s game, Tatum said he was thrilled to be able to play. My mind was definitely on the fact that I had played as poorly as possible for 42, 43 minutes. It’s only up from here.”

As soon as Game 7 started, he was ready. During Games 4, 5, and 6, Tatum scored 18 points in the first half.

Tatum says he was too locked in going into Game 6. “I was too tight. I was too in my own head thinking about what I needed to do. There’s a lot on the line.”

“I played my best today when I am relaxed, laughing, joking. That’s when I play my best, when I’m having fun. I just tried not to think about what everyone is going to say. Just focus on the game.”

Even though both of their stars struggled, the Sixers led after the first quarter and trailed 55-52 at halftime. Boston broke open the game in the third quarter, scoring 33-10 on Philadelphia. He scored 17 points in the third quarter alone, nearly doubling the Sixers’ total.

Sixers coach Doc Rivers said only one performance like Tatum’s came to mind in the playoffs.

There was one in this building, unfortunately,” Rivers said. “It was LeBron [James]. I can’t remember the last time I saw a live performance like that. Tatum was amazing.”

For the fifth time in the last seven years, the Celtics reached the conference finals.

After going down 3-2, the Celtics won two straight games to win the series. It was the same situation the Celtics faced in last year’s Eastern Conference semifinals, when Boston came back from down 3-2 against Milwaukee to win.

According to ESPN’s Stats & Information, the Celtics have now won seven series when trailing 3-2, the most in NBA history.

Joe Mazzulla, Celtics first-year coach, says you always come into a series expecting it to go one way, but that’s just not how the playoffs work. Despite rough patches, we were able to keep our emotional togetherness intact, which I think is important in the playoffs.”

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