Celtics
Tatum turned a nightmarish game into a memorable finish.
The Celtics survived a roaring Philadelphia crowd and three quarters of nightmare basketball from Jayson Tatum in Game 6 on Thursday, claiming a dramatic 95-86 victory to force Game 7.
Here are the takeaways.
1. Jayson Tatum was 4:14 away from a deeply uncomfortable summer full of questions about his ability to lead a team in the clutch and maybe even his status as a top player in the NBA.
Fresh off a nearly unanimous selection to the All-NBA First Team, Tatum was 1-for-13 from the floor as time ticked away on the Celtics’ season. He couldn’t find the range, the Celtics’ offense was icy cold, and the Sixers looked like they were on the verge of taking control.
It might have been a little thing, but with 6:31 remaining, James Harden fouled Tatum and sent him to the line for two free throws. Tatum made both. The free throws were quickly forgotten — on the Celtics’ next possession, Jaylen Brown turned the ball over and Tatum committed a costly clear-path foul that gave the Sixers two shots and the ball. But roughly two minutes later, Tatum lined up his first shot since the free throws — a 3-pointer in the corner over Joel Embiid.
He buried it. The Celtics led by one.
On the Celtics’ next possession, Tatum shook off Tyrese Maxey with a nasty step-back dribble and lined up another triple.
He buried that one too. The Celtics led by four.
Two minutes later, Smart and Tatum ran a pick-and-pop, and Tatum fired again from three. He cashed that one out. The Celtics led by eight, and a deflated Sixers team never recovered. Tatum added one more 3-pointer for good measure in front of a quickly thinning Wells Fargo Arena crowd before the final buzzer sounded.
“I’m, humbly, one of the best basketball players in the world,” Tatum told ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth in his postgame interview. “Go through struggles, go through slumps, it’s a long game. Thankfully, I got some great teammates that held it down.”
2. The Celtics would not have been in a position to be saved by Tatum if Marcus Smart hadn’t kept them in the game with one of the best two-way postseason performances of his career. Smart finished with 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting to go with seven assists, giving the Celtics just enough offense to tread water and wait for their star to arrive.
Smart’s performance backed up an impassioned quote he gave prior to Game 6.
“If you’re not willing to pretty much get dirty, if you’re not willing to bleed, if you’re not willing to break something, willing to tear something going hard, then you shouldn’t be on that court, because that’s what it is,” Smart said. “That’s what the playoffs are about. Hopefully you stay safe, but that’s the mentality. You’ve got to go, you’ve got to be willing to risk it all for these games. And that’s the mentality we’ve got to have.”
3. The Celtics tried a new starting lineup, going back to their double big group that dominated throughout last season with Robert Williams next to Al Horford. The results were excellent — Williams finished with 10 points and nine rebounds, and he was a team-high +18 in just under 28 minutes of playing time.
Importantly, putting Williams in the starting lineup also gave the bench a boost with Derrick White alongside Malcolm Brogdon. White and Brogdon shot a combined 5-for-6 in the first half from three, and while they cooled down in the second, they — like Smart — were essential in helping the Celtics build a lead despite Tatum’s struggles.
Game 7 will take place on Sunday at TD Garden.
We will have more takeaways later this evening.
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