BOSTON–The Philadelphia 76ers had their chances on Sunday in Game 7 against the Boston Celtics. They only trailed by three at halftime despite the struggles of Joel Embiid and James Harden and it appeared that they were going to give themselves a chance as long as they could get going.
Instead, it was Boston’s star that got going. Jayson Tatum scored a Game 7 record 51 points with 17 coming in the third quarter as the Celtics eliminated the Sixers 112-88. Tatum shot 17-for-28 and 6-for-10 from deep.
“He was fantastic,” said Embiid. “I told him after the game he was pretty inefficient the whole series and he chose a great night to have that type of game and make shots. That’s what I told him after the game.”
Tatum led the Celtics in a big swing in Game 7. He outscored the Sixers by himself in the third 17-10 and Boston earned a 33-10 advantage overall.
“(Expletive), it felt like everything went wrong,” Harden added of the third quarter. “They started making shots, they got hot, we couldn’t keep up, we couldn’t make shots, and that was the game.”
Harden is a guy who historically has had huge games. He knows better than anyone that when a guy gets hot like that, there isn’t much anyone can do.
“Nah. He got it going,” Harden added. “You can shoot any shots you want. The defense is at your hands. When they’re double-teaming, somebody else is open. They always got five guys on the floor that can attack, that can shoot, that can make a play for each other, so you gotta give them credit.”
There are so many great players in this league, Tatum being one of them, and when they get hot like the Boston star did on Sunday, you just gotta appreciate greatness. Coach Doc Rivers has been in this building and been on the wrong side of huge performances before.
“I’ve seen one and it was in this building,” Rivers said. “Unfortunately, it was LeBron (James). That’s the only time I’ve seen a performance like that live. I’m glad that I haven’t seen many…Tatum was not only unbelievable, but he played hard defensively and he didn’t take a lot of bad shots. I thought he got them in rhythm and he played great overall.”
With that being said, the Sixers had to respond and they weren’t able to.
“When you’re a part of that game and somebody was as hot as he was and he keeps making shots, it’s tough, but you can’t give up,” Embiid added. “You gotta keep going, try to respond, and we didn’t. We just kept missing and they just kept making everything. So credit to them. They did a fantastic job and I think they’re the best team in the league and they got a huge opportunity in front of them.”
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