By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
A flat start was never in Jayson Tatum’s vocabulary in the closeout Game 7.
Facing elimination in front of their home fans for all the marbles, the superstar swingman dominated from start to finish and erupted for 51 points to lift the Boston Celtics against the Philadelphia 76ers, 112-88, and advanced to the Eastern Conference finals in the ongoing NBA Playoffs last May 15, 2023.
After hitting his first field goal of the game off a beautiful hesitation dribble move to get past Joel Embiid in the 9:24 mark of the opening frame, Tatum just continued to step on the gas pedal and sank 17 of his 28 total shooting attempts.
Tatum was already waxing hot in the first half after ending the first 24 minutes of the game with 25 points to surpass his total point production last Game 6 where he only tallied 19 points.
Aside from his jaw-dropping 51-point outing, Tatum also did a little bit of everything after putting up 13 rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
Philadelphia immediately went off to the races after getting a huge 11-point first-quarter from energy guy PJ Tucker and was in control early when they extended their lead to nine points.
However, a much-needed offensive counter rally from the Celtics put them back into the ball game led by seven points apiece from Jaylen Brown and Tatum in just seven minutes of action.
The third quarter then became a nightmare for the 76ers after the Celtics blitzed their way to a huge 18-3 run that saw a 55-all deadlock affair turn into a one-sided contest when they grabbed a 15-point lead off a Tatum trey.
After their huge offensive snowball, the Celtics then never looked back and ballooned their lead to as much as 28 points which the 76ers never trimmed to just a single digit in the final frame.
Brown backstopped Tatum as the game’s second-leading scorer with 25 markers, six rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks.
Al Horford, Boston’s defensive veteran who was tasked to limit Embiid, did an excellent job against the newly-crowned Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the NBA after posting three blocks alongside 10 rebounds, six points, and two steals.
Meanwhile, it was an unfortunate time for Embiid to have an off-night after shooting for only 5/18 from the field to end up with 15 points and eight boards.
With the win, the Celtics will be setting up a rematch from last year’s Eastern Conference finals as they take on the Miami Heat again on May 18, 2023.
