NBA playoffs: Jayson Tatum offers himself a record 51 pts and Boston goes to the Eastern final

The Celtics’ big guns got the better of the 76ers as Boston triumphed 112-88 to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday.

The winner will now meet the Miami Heat, which they also beat at this stage last year. With a Western final between the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers, this means that the four aces is identical to that of 2020.

Jayson Tatum gave Philadelphia headaches with a whopping 51 points and 13 rebounds. A man of big chances who was already playing a sixth career Game 7 in six seasons, he broke his personal best of 50 set last year against the Brooklyn Nets and at the same time the league for the number of points in a decisive match.

He also became the fourth player in NBA history to record 20 or more 30-point games before the age of 26, after none other than LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant.

“I didn’t play well in the first half last game and I wanted to bounce back home,” Tatum said. It’s Mother’s Day today, and I’m glad to have put on such a special performance in honor of mine. »

Jaylen Brown scored 25 points, and Malcolm Brogdon 12.

On the other side, Joel Embiid and James Harden fell short with 15 and 9 points respectively.

After a good start from the Celtics, Philly took advantage of an 8-0 surge to take the lead and lead 29-23 at the end of the first quarter with the help of 11 points including three long baskets from the surprising PJ Tucker, who hadn’t scored more than 9 points in a game in this playoff.

James Harden passed Dennis Johnson at 13^e all-time rank with his 1007^e assist in the playoffs during this period.

The Sixers blocked many shots in the second quarter to hold the lead by 9 points. The Celtics, however, closed the gap after a flagrant foul by Harden for a blow that seemed to be unintentional against Jaylen Brown and caused him to bleed from the nose. Brown hit his two free throws, Robert Williams III scored on a go-hop, then Brown took advantage of a turnover to approach the hosts to 2 points.

The Celtics ended up taking a 55-52 lead at halftime. Tatum and Brown were outscoring Embiid and Harden 38-19 at this point.

Tatum in particular continued to rain or shine in the second half to help the Bostonians build a 28-point lead after a frenzied 24-3 run in the third quarter and they didn’t look back.

The Sixers haven’t reached the conference final since 2001.