The Celtics beat the 76ers in Game 7 to advance to the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals.
Jason Tatum broke the record of a personal high of 50 points in NBA history that Curry had just set against the Kings:
He scored 51 points on 17-of-28 shooting.
Opposite him, this season's regular season MVP, two-time scoring champion Embiid, 2018 regular season MVP, three-time scoring champion Harden, combined for 8-of-29 shooting and scoring 24 points.
The Celtics won by 24 points, but at one point the game was in Philadelphia's hands.
Philadelphia clearly knew the Celtics' strategy, and Harden frequently sought out Tucker, who was emptied in the first quarter, going 11-2 in the first quarter — including Tucker with eight points. When Tucker hit the 11th point in the first quarter to give Philadelphia a 29-20 lead, Harden commanded four assists.
At the time, it seemed like the Celtics were going to die: Jaylen shot 2 of 7 in the first quarter, and the Celtics scored 23 points in the first quarter, all thanks to Tatum's nearly half of the 11 points.
But "Tatum scored half of the Celtics" was unexpectedly protracted.
The turning point of the game was in the second quarter, when Philadelphia led 35-26 at one point, Harden fought back, facing Jaylen, and the skater went out of bounds.
At the same time, a malicious foul: with a wave of his right hand, he slashed his head and covered his face, beating Jaylen to the point of nosebleeds.
——Kind speculation: Probably at that time, Harden didn't want to beat Jay, he just wanted to perform a very familiar "raise his hands to make the referee feel that he was fouled", right?
——Originally, Jaylen wore a mask to fight, but by coincidence, Jaylen took off the mask at that time.
This was the turning point in the game.
After cotton gambled on his nostrils, Jaylen Jaylen moved murderously.
He made two free throws, and Tatum gave Lowe an open catch. Maxi tried to give Harden a pass to the ground, and Jaylen broke the ball around the front, 33-35.
Lao Li quickly paused, but there was no good move; Then the Philadelphia bench made an evil move: seeing that the Celtic defense had become a quick attack, Niang—sitting on the bench—reached for Jaylen's knee. Jaylen was so angry that he quarreled with him, and the two of them each ate a T.
- Hit Jaylen on the court with a nosebleed, and drag Jaylen's knee off the court.
Boston Garden began to burn and emotions rose.
In the next five minutes, Tatum scored 13 points in one go: Tu Harris, turned and made a mid-range shot, a quick stop, hit Maxi on his back, and at halftime he stepped back to Embiid for three points: 55-52, Tatum 25 points.
- Celtics 23 points in the first quarter, Tatum 11; In the first half, the Celtics scored 55 points and Tatum 25.
But it's not over yet.
In the second half, Tatum singled out Embiid and scored the Celtics' 28th of 59 points; Then find a change of defense to single out Embiid, bottom corner three-pointer: Celtics' 30 of 62 points, stop Philadelphia again.
A timeout, Harris missed a three-pointer; Tatum asked Embiid for another 3-pointer: 33 of the Celtics' 65 points, including two free throws.
Lao Li finally realized that something was wrong and began to pinch Tatum; So Tatum→ Horford→ Jaylen shot from distance, and the Celtics led 15-3 to 12 points; Tatum made another 3-pointer to score the 38th of the Celtics' 73 points, making them 73-58.
In fact, by this time, the game has already been played.
The Celtics were 112-88, but the core plot that sealed the victory was Philadelphia's 35-26 lead and Harden's Jaylen nosebleed, the Celtics' 47-23 climax - Tatum scored 27 points in the Celtics' 46 points.
That is, halfway through the second quarter to halfway through the third quarter, Tatum alone scored 27 points and Philadelphia as a team 23.
The heroes of this section are Tatum — and Horford.
At the end of the first three quarters, regular season MVP Embiid shot 4-of-16.
His teenage nemesis is famous for Gasol Jr. and Horford - after all, he shot 22 of 52 when he met Horford in his second grade, and was once defended by Junior to 0 points per game, just because he couldn't get deep post; But since then, his regular-season basket skills have improved tremendously: Not this year's regular season, beating Horford by 41 points.
But today's seventh game, almost 37-year-old Horford, probably reminded Embiid of those years and bad memories of not being stuck in the low position.
The Celtics even made a bad move at the end of the second quarter: Horford took a break, so he used Smart to carry Embiid. It wasn't effective, but as Tatum said after the game, it was necessary to defend Embiid in a different way. When Horford faced Embiid in the third quarter, Smart was again sabotageous.
Pinch shots, go around the front, carry raw, use Horford to defend, use Smart Card to play the set - Embiid was held down: he couldn't get into the box.
Harden showed his form with a move: in the third quarter, he was defended by the Celtics to make way to the basket; He had a chance to throw, didn't shoot, passed into the bottom corner.
- This choice, to put it mildly: very Ben Simmons.
And so it was: Embiid and Harden shot 8-of-29 for 24 points combined.
After the 73-58 timeout, Philadelphia's momentum went out; The rest of the game suspense is actually left: Tatum's scoring record.
In the fourth quarter, Tatum broke through the two-man clip and made a layup over Embiid's head, 44 points; Then he tried to block the ball and was blown up, got upset, and returned a layup, 46 points. Four 8 points on two free throws.
The Celtics were already leading 99-74 at the time, but Horford was still circling the front to face Embiid.
Tatum scored 51st point against Embiid, 102-76; It was only after Jaylen hit the Celtics' 108th point that the game went completely into garbage time.
Trailing 3-2 in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season, Tatum scored 46 points in Game 6 to drag the game into Game 7.
Trailing 3-2 in the Eastern Conference semifinals this season, Tatum shot 1-of-14 from the first 14 in Game 6 and took the game away with four three-pointers in the final four minutes — Tatum said after the game that he thanked his coach for supporting him and said he believed "I have time to make a difference" despite his messy throws. "The team worked hard to drag the game into the fourth quarter to buy him time, and then he did close the game.
Today's seventh game of 51 points, it can be regarded as his self-redemption, repaying the team.
"You carried me for so long in the sixth game, watch me today!"
Before today, the seventh scoring record in NBA history, we all know:
Curry just scored 50 points in Game 7 against the Kings.
Meanwhile......
LeBron 2008 against Pierce at Boston Garden, 45 points; Sam Jones in Boston Garden in 1963, 47 points, opposite the Oscar 43 points.
Human Movie Essence 1988 in Boston Garden, 47 points.
Above that were Durant's 48 points and Curry's 50.
- Boston Plain is the high location of the seventh legendary high score, but take a closer look: Boston Garden's seventh high score, mainly because the opponent cuts more here.
Not to mention LeBron's legendary 45 points here in Game 6 in 2012.
Today Tatum scored 51 points in Game 7.
Speaking of Boston Garden in the future, it is not the 47 points of the essence of human movies, or the 47 points of Jones Sr. sixty years ago - the Celtics have their own seventh new legend.
After Game Six, Tatum confidently said he felt he was one of the best players in the world — a big breath for someone who just shot 1 of 14 and then made four three-pointers.
But today against two MVP+ scoring champions, the seventh game, the all-time 51 points, the game maintained the score for most of the team: the bragging bull was cashed in.
So Tatum had his fourth Eastern Conference final in six years — Jaylen's fifth in seven years.
Tatum is 5-1 in Game 7 and Jaylen is 6-1 in Game 7 — only LeBron in 2018 beat them in Game 7.
Speaking of the seventh game and the East Showdown...
This is the seventh game of Embiid's third Eastern Conference semifinals, and once again only one step away from reaching the Eastern Conference finals.
So far in his career, he has won the MVP and the scoring title, but he has not touched the East final, nor has he won the seventh game.
After the last game, he said the team didn't give him a pass in the last four minutes, and today he made six shots in the first quarter and 11 in the first half: enough shots, but not to the basket.
- Of course, you can't blame him: he has an injury in this series.
Curse can also be blamed: plus Embiid this season, the regular-season MVP of the past four seasons has all fallen in the first/second round of the playoffs.
So Mark Jackson didn't give Jokic a regular-season MVP this season, probably for him, right?
Of course, we can also say that we can't all blame Embiid and Harden, and we can also blame him that coach is Lao Li:
Coach Rivers today coached Game 7, the 16th all-time high in NBA history, scoring his 10th defeat.
In other words, Lao Li actually won a lot of seventh games.
In 2008, Lee won Game 7 of his first career series, with the Celtics crossing the Atlanta Hawks, eighth in the East, in Boston Garden.
It was also Horford's rookie year, and it was Game 7 of his first series. That is, Lao Li's first seventh victory was to sacrifice the flag with the blood of the Horford youth.
— Fifteen years later, Horford in Boston Garden, Game Seven, succeeds in revenge.
One of the most evil things.
Just said, Boston Garden's legendary high score in the seventh game shaved off the 1963 stubble.
Tatum 51 points today - Old Lee is there.
2008 LeBron 45 points - Lee was present as the Celtics' manager.
47 points for the 1988 movie - Lao Lee was present as a guard for the Eagles.
The seventh legendary record in Boston Garden, there is always Lao Li.
Embiid & Harden: Got it, blame Lao Li!