Jayson Tatum comes through as Boston Celtics hold off Philadelphia 76ers to level NBA series
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Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum during the fourth quarter in game six of the 2023 NBA playoffs at Wells Fargo Centre.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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PHILADELPHIA – With five minutes left in Game 6 of their National Basketball Association (NBA) Eastern Conference semi-finals on Thursday night, Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla called for a timeout to speak to Jayson Tatum.
But there was no tactical talk, neither did he rile up the forward in a bid to change things.
“I love you,” Mazzulla said on ESPN of the conversation he had with Tatum.
“That’s it. That’s a pretty powerful statement.”
Those words proved to be effective indeed, as Tatum scored 16 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter as the Celtics held off the hosts Philadelphia 76ers 95-86 to force a decisive Game 7 in their play-off series.
The star forward was enduring a dismal shooting night, making just one of 13 attempts from the floor through the first three quarters before erupting with four three-pointers in the final period as Boston thwarted Philadelphia’s rally bid.
The Celtics will host Game 7 on Sunday, hoping to deny the Sixers a first trip to the Conference Finals since 2001.
“I kept looking at the time,” Tatum, who averaged 30.1 points per game in the regular season, said of his fourth quarter.
“I’ve got time, I’ve got time to make a difference. I believed that the whole time.
“I’m one of – humbly, one of the best basketball players in the world. You go through struggles. You go through slumps. My teammates trusted me. It’s a long game. Thankfully I’ve got some great teammates who held it down.”
He was also grateful for Mazzulla’s support.
“I told him a lot of times, ‘I got your back. We’re in this together’,” Tatum said.
“I love the relationship that me and Joe have.”
Marcus Smart led the Celtics with 22 points. Jaylen Brown added 17 and Malcolm Brogdon scored 16 off the bench.
Even amid Tatum’s troubles the Celtics raced to a 15-3 lead, Smart and Brogdon carrying the early load before the Sixers began to find their feet.
Philadelphia cut the deficit to three points before Boston pulled away again, pushing their advantage to 16 points twice in the second period.
But the Sixers clawed back, taking advantage of 17 Celtics turnovers and finally taking the lead on two free throws from James Harden that put them up 64-62 with less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Philadelphia led 73-71 going into the final frame and were up by two when Tatum made his first three-pointer of the game to put Boston ahead.
Tatum then drilled a step-back three-pointer over Tyrese Maxey.
Another pair from beyond the arc pushed the Celtics’ lead to 11 points with 37.6 seconds remaining.
“All that mattered was we won this game,” added Tatum, who also had nine rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
“It’s Game 7, it doesn’t get any better than that.”
Harden epitomised the Sixers’ offensive struggles. He scored 13 points on four-of-16 shooting while newly minted NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid scored 26 points with 10 rebounds.
Philadelphia missed 15 of 20 shots and all eight three-point attempts in the decisive fourth quarter.
“I would say we had a lot of wide-open threes,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. “We just didn’t make them.
“I didn’t like how we played overall offensively down the stretch. Got to play through the big fella (Embiid) more. Didn’t think the ball went there (enough).”
Embiid agreed with his coach, bemoaning the lack of service from his teammates towards the end.
He said: “We stopped moving the ball. I don’t think I touched the ball the last four minutes of the game.
“Missed a lot of good looks. I didn’t touch the ball, though.
“We’ve got to respond, and got to go (to Boston) to win.” AFP
