Author with 51 points of the new record in game 7, Jayson Tatum, quite simply stratospheric, in this “final” against Philadelphia, Sunday evening at TD Garden, allowed Boston to explode the Sixers of MVP Joel Embiid and to qualify for the Eastern Conference finals at the same time.
Jayson Tatum springs from his box and Boston continues its journey in these NBA play-offs. The Celtics joined the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference final on Sunday night by crushing Philadelphia (112-88) at home and they owe it almost exclusively to a dizzying Jayson Tatum. Two weeks after Stephen Curry’s 50 points with Golden State, the C’s winger set the new points record in Game 7. Expected at the turn after starting this series timidly between Boston and MVP Joel Embiid’s Sixers, Tatum had already recalled how essential it is to the franchise of Massachusetts by scoring 16 points in the last quarter of game 6, thus avoiding at the same time his team to take the door. Sunday, on the floor of the TD Garden, the native of Saint-Louis, still in search of a first ring of champion, did not only save his own. He wore them all evening, with on arrival a copy to lose balance (51 points to 17 of 28 on shots including 6 of 10 three-pointers, 13 rebounds, 5 assists).
More points than all Sixers in the 3rd quarter!
And if “Jay T” has gained momentum in this series, in this game 7, he hit very hard from the start. At halftime, the hero of the evening already totaled 25 points. But the best was to come, with this third quarter which turned into humiliation (33-10) for James Harden, completely upside down in this part (9 points to 3 of 11 on shots, 7 assists , 5 lost balls), and the Sixers totally extinguished by the defensive intensity of the solid Al Horford (10 rebounds, 3 blocks) and the Celtics. Still as stratospheric, Tatum, for his part, continued his recital (Editor’s note: he scored more points – 17 – than the entire opposing team over this period), in shots but not only, since the number 0 of the Celtics has also achieved the feat in this part of not losing any ball. The masterclass par excellence for the one who will inevitably pass a possible new title (it would be the 18th for Boston), even if Jaylen Brown, excellent on Sunday (25 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists), will also have his say.
