![]() ![]() We had rough patches, but we were able to keep our emotional togetherness intact, which I think is important in the playoffs."Īfter losing in the NBA Finals last season, the Celtics have been relying on their experiences from that playoff run to carry them forward this season. Never got too emotionally high, too emotionally low. "We just handled the ebbs and flows of a series. "You always come into a series with the expectation of how it's supposed to go, and it's just not how the playoffs are," Celtics first-year coach Joe Mazzulla said. The Celtics have now won seven series when trailing 3-2, the most by any team in NBA history, according to research by ESPN's Stats & Information. Milwaukee to advance to the conference finals. It mirrored the situation the Celtics faced in last year's Eastern Conference semifinals, when Boston came back from down 3-2 vs. The Celtics rallied from down 3-2 in the series with two consecutive victories to close it out. It's going to be fun it's going to be highly competitive and I'm looking forward to it." They defend, they make plays and they figure out a way to win games. "A very well-coached team, they compete with the best of them, play hard. "A team that we're extremely familiar with," Tatum said about the matchup with Miami. The Celtics advanced to the conference finals for the second consecutive season and the fifth time in the past seven seasons. That's the only time I've seen a performance like that live and I'm glad that I haven't seen many. And it was in this building, unfortunately," Rivers said. When asked if he'd seen a performance like Tatum's before in the playoffs, Sixers coach Doc Rivers said only one came to mind. Tatum scored 17 points in the third quarter alone, nearly doubling the Sixers' total and pushing the game out of reach. Then Boston raced past Philadelphia in the third quarter, outscoring the Sixers 33-10 to break the game open. Still, the Sixers led after the first quarter and trailed 55-52 at halftime, staying in the game despite both of their stars struggling. I just tried not to think about the pressure, what everybody is going to say. That's when I play my best, when I'm having fun. Pregame, I was relaxed, laughing, joking. I was too in my own head thinking about what I need to do. "Going into Game 6 - it sounds crazy, I was too locked in," Tatum said. Tatum scored 25 points in the first half after scoring 18 points in the first half of Games 4, 5 and 6 combined. It was clear he was ready to respond from the beginning of Game 7. We have a saying, 'It's only up from here.'" "It definitely was on my mind that I had played as bad as it could get for 42, 43 minutes. "I was really excited just for the moment, to be able to come out and play today," Tatum said after Sunday's game. Tatum had a dreadful start to Game 6, shooting 1-for-13 through the first three quarters before getting hot late. Tatum finished fourth in the voting for the award this season, a career-best finish, but by the end of the game the sold-out crowd at TD Garden serenaded him with chants of "MVP."īefore the game, Tatum called Sunday a chance for the Celtics to redeem themselves after getting routed in their last game in Boston, drawing boos from the home crowd. Tatum scored all 51 points in the half court, according to ESPN tracking data, against five different defenders, including 17 points against Embiid, the 2023 NBA MVP. ![]() He scored or assisted on 62 points in Game 7, outshining the Sixers' star duo of Joel Embiid (15 points) and James Harden (nine points), who combined to score or assist for 44 points. Being able to just sit back, eat your popcorn and watch."Īfter struggling through one of the worst shooting nights of his career in Game 6, Tatum responded with one of the best performances in franchise history. "It's a movie," Celtics guard Marcus Smart said. Tatum went 17-of-28 from the field and added 13 rebounds and five assists, becoming the fifth player in NBA history with at least 50-10-5 in a playoff game. Tatum broke the record set two weeks ago by Stephen Curry, who scored 50 points in Game 7 of the Golden State Warriors' first-round series against the Sacramento Kings. Tatum scored 51 points, the most in a Game 7 in NBA history, to lead the Celtics to a 112-88 victory to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. Sixers sends Celtics back to ECFīOSTON - As Jayson Tatum connected on another 3-pointer midway through the third quarter Sunday - en route to outscoring the Philadelphia 76ers in the period by himself - he turned to a raucous Boston crowd and let out a cathartic yell. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser ![]()
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