History favors the Boston Celtics to beat the Philadelphia 76ers at home in Saturday’s Game 7 and advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs.
Facts to Know before Celtics vs 76ers Game 7:
- It’s the ninth all-time Game 7 between the Celtics and 76ers, four more than any other matchup in NBA playoffs history.
- The C’s hold a 6-2 edge in the previous eight Game 7s between the Atlantic Division rivals, including the last two encounters in 2023 and 2013.
- Boston has played a record 37 Game 7s — nearly 24% of all Game 7s in postseason history — and owns the second-best winning percentage (.730).
- The Celtics are 22-6 at home in Game 7s, having lost only two such games in the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown era — 2023 vs. Heat and 2018 vs. Cavaliers.
- The 76ers, on the other hand, own a 6-12 record in Game 7s and are 1-10 on the road in such win-or-go-home contests.
- The Sixers have lost all three Game 7s in the Joel Embiid era — vs. the Celtics (2023), the Raptors (2019) and the Hawks (2021).
Tonight, Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and the Sixers will look to become the 14th team to win a series after trailing 3-1… while Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and the Celtics will look to advance to the East Semis for the 9th time in 10 seasons!
Jayson Tatum’s Time to Shine
As noted above, the Celtics have gone 6-2 in Game 7s in the Tatum-Brown era, with the only two losses coming against teams led by LeBron James and Jimmy Butler.
In those seven previous Game 7s, Tatum has been historically great, averaging 26.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists while shooting 47.9% from deep (3.3 made threes).
With 187 points from seven Game 7s, he has already risen to No. 7 all-time in points in Game 7s, trailing only Larry Bird (216), Wilt Chamberlain (220), Sam Jones (244), Elgin Baylor (263), Jerry West (278) and LeBron James (279). He will need to score 30 points on Friday to surpass fellow Celtics legend Bird and move into No. 6.
Tatum has also scored the most points in a Game 7 in NBA history, a record he set when he dropped 51 points on the 76ers in the 2023 semis.
The stage is set for the Duke alum to enrich his Game 7 legacy.
Celtics vs 76ers Game 7 Betting Odds
Even the oddsmakers favor the Celtics, with Joe Mazzulla’s team opening as 7.5-point favorites despite dropping the last two games of the series.
NBA.com’s John Schuhmann won’t be surprised if the game is decided within the first three quarters, given the recent history of Game 7s and the fact that five of the six games in this series have been blowouts (of sorts).
“Only one of the first six games has been within five points in the last five minutes,” wrote Schuhmann. “That was Game 3, when the two teams combined to score an amazing 26 points on 13 clutch possessions and Tatum hit the dagger 3 after a Derrick White offensive rebound.
“The Celtics were just 16-17 in clutch games in the regular season, while the Sixers (23-18) had the league’s No. 1 clutch defense and won two of the three clutch games that they played against Boston.
“There have been 82 Game 7s in the 30 years for which we have play-by-play data, and 40 (49%) have been within five points in the last five minutes.”
Celtics vs 76ers Game 7 tips off at 7:30 p.m. ET. The winner will advance to face the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Celtics vs 76ers Game 7: Facts to Know, Jayson Tatum Records, Betting Odds