What Tyrese Maxey told Joel Embiid after Jayson Tatum was ruled out
What Tyrese Maxey told Joel Embiid after Jayson Tatum was ruled out originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Boston Celtics 109-100 in a Game 7 at TD Garden on Saturday, finishing a historic comeback from 3-1 down to advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New York Knicks .
Tyrese Maxey finished with 30 points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds, and closed the game with back-to-back buckets when Boston had cut the lead to one with under four minutes left.
When Tatum sat out, what was Maxey thinking?
"Once we found out JT was out, honestly we felt that the game was going to be even harder," Maxey said in his postgame press conference. "As soon as I found out, I told Joel it's not going to get easier. It's definitely gonna be harder."
Without Tatum, Joe Mazzulla started three players making their first career playoff starts in a Game 7 situation: Baylor Scheierman , Ron Harper Jr. , and Luka Garza . That group went 0-for-7 from the field and scored zero points.
Boston opened the game cold and fell behind 11-4 before its first substitution, but the Celtics eventually cut an 18-point deficit all the way to one in the fourth.
Tatum had averaged 23.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 6.8 assists through six games in the series. His presence stretched Philadelphia 's defense and created cleaner reads for Jaylen Brown . Without him, the Celtics ran a tighter, grittier operation with less structure.
Maxey has been the story of this series since Game 5. The Tatum comment just tells how he processes the game when the moment demands it.
