Tatum takeover leads Celtics to Game 7 win over 76ers, back to Eastern Conference Finals

BOSTON -- Jayson Tatum played like a superstar in Sunday's Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers, sending the Boston Celtics back to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Tatum took over Sunday's Game 7 at TD Garden, scoring 51 points to lead the Celtics to a 112-88 blowout victory. Those 51 points are a new NBA record in a Game 7.

Boston is now back in the Eastern Conference Finals for the third time in the last four years, where they'll have a rematch of last year's conference finals against the Miami Heat. Boston won that series in seven games.

As for Sunday, Tatum made sure he didn't have another sluggish start, dropping 11 points in the first quarter. He added 14 more in the second quarter, and then scored 13 of Boston's first 18 points out of halftime. He was up to 38 points by the 6:15 mark of the quarter when he hit a 3-pointer to give the Celtics a 73-58 lead. He scored 17 points in the frame, hitting five of his seven shots from the floor, including four of five from 3-point range.

Tatum finished his night shooting an incredible 17-for-28 overall while hitting six of his 10 attempts from downtown. He also hit 11 of his 14 free throws, and led Boston with 13 rebounds and five assists.

Jaylen Brown added 25 points for Boston, and it was one play involving Brown that really turned things around for the Celtics in the second quarter. After shedding his protective mask following the first quarter, Brown was left with a bloody nose after he was swiped by James Harden's hand as the 76ers guard drove to the basket in the second frame. After a review, Harden was assessed with a Flagrant 1 foul, giving Brown two free throws and possession to Boston.

Brown hit the two free throws and on the ensuing Boston possession, Tatum found Robert Williams for an easy bucket. Brown then stole the ball from Harden and drove in for a layup of his own, cutting Philadelphia's lead to 35-33.

Brown was hit with a technical a few plays later, though he was pretty justified for jawing with the Philadelphia bench. After Brown went into the Philly bench to save a juicy rebound or the Celtics, 76ers  forward Georges Niang grabbed Brown's leg as he tried to get back into the play. Curiously, Niang was only hit with a technical, and Brown's tech was not rescinded.

That just seemed to fire the Celtics up even more. The two teams slugged it out for the rest of the half, though Boston took a 55-52 lead into the break after Tatum caused a Joel Embiid turnover and then drained a 3-pointer on the other end.

Then the Celtics came out and absolutely demolished the 76ers in the third quarter, with Tatum outscoring Philadelphia all by himself, 17-10. Boston ripped off a 28-3 run at one point and won the frame by a 33-10 margin, taking an 88-62 lead into the fourth quarter. 

Tatum kept pouring it on in the fourth, adding another nine points as the Celtics put the finishing touches on their Game 7 win. League MVP Joel Embiid had just 15 points and eight rebounds for Philly, and Harden scored just nine points off 3-for-11 shooting.

Now Boston will face the 8-seeded Miami Heat, a team that upset the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round and is 8-3 this postseason. This will be the third time that the Celtics and Heat meet the Eastern Conference Finals in the last four years. The Celtics beat the Heat in seven games last season, while Miami earned a six-game victory over Boston in the 2020 playoffs in the NBA bubble. Neither team went on to win a title.

Boston and Miami split their four regular season matchups, with each team winning one game on the other's home court. Game 1 is scheduled for Wednesday night in Boston.