The 76ers defeat the Celtics, 106-93, to pressure a Recreation 7 on Saturday to see who will tackle the Knicks.
No two franchises have performed one another extra occasions in NBA historical past than the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers. So appropriately, we’re getting a Recreation 7 of their twenty third playoff sequence.
The Sixers made it occur with a cushty, 106-93 victory in Recreation 6 on Thursday, the second straight recreation during which they shot down the Celtics’ high-powered offense. Philly outscored Boston, 62-40, over the center two quarters and had Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla taking his starters out of the sport with greater than 10 minutes left within the fourth.
All 5 of the Sixers’ starters scored no less than 14 factors, and Tyrese Maxey led the best way with 30 on 11-for-22 capturing. Joel Embiid (19 factors, 10 rebounds and eight assists) wasn’t environment friendly, however created loads of open pictures for his teammates.
Along with having misplaced their 3-1 sequence lead, the Celtics might have a priority with the well being of Jayson Tatum, who appeared to have a problem along with his decrease left leg. (It was his proper Achilles that he tore lower than a yr in the past.)
“My leg simply was slightly stiff,” Tatum mentioned, “once I got here out within the third quarter.”
Listed here are some notes, numbers and movie because the sequence heads again to Boston for Recreation 7 on Saturday (7:30 ET, NBC/Peacock):
1. Maxey takes what the Celtics give him
Maxey has turn out to be an enormous downside for the Celtics’ protection. He averaged 27 factors by the primary three video games of the sequence, however on a real capturing share of simply 48.8%. During the last three video games, he’s averaged 25.7 on 65.4%. And with the win on Thursday, the Sixers are 15-3 when Maxey has scored no less than 30 factors on a real capturing share of 60 or higher.
His in-between recreation wasn’t significantly sharp in Recreation 6; he shot simply 3-for-11 on 2-pointers outdoors the restricted space. However he was 5-for-6 on the basket, 3-for-5 from 3-point vary and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.
The Celtics have been “icing” extra pick-and-rolls since Recreation 3, making an attempt to pressure the ball-handler away from the screener. And that technique was working previous to Thursday, with the Sixers scoring simply 0.83 factors per probability when an iced display screen led on to a shot, turnover or journey to the road.
However in Recreation 6, the Sixers scored 17 factors on eight probabilities (2.13 per).
Halfway by the second quarter, Derrick White jumped out to maintain Maxey from utilizing an Andre Drummond display screen towards the center of the ground. So Maxey went the opposite approach, snaked his approach again to the center, stored White on his hip, and dropped in a brief runner:
Late within the second, Payton Pritchard tried to maintain Maxey from utilizing an Embiid display screen towards the center of the ground. So Embiid flipped the display screen and Maxey drained a pull-up 3, with Nikola Vučević in drop protection:
After the Celtics took their starters out, they began blitzing Maxey, possibly a preview of what’s to come back in Recreation 7. That compelled him to eliminate the ball, nevertheless it simply created 4-on-3 benefits or mismatches for the Sixers, which resulted in some wide-open appears from the corners.
2. The Celtics’ offense has been shut down
The 2025-26 Celtics are liable for four of the 14 games of the final 30 years the place a crew scored greater than 150 factors per 100 possessions. And over these final two video games, they’ve scored simply 97.9 per 100.
The truth is, Video games 5 and 6 of this sequence are simply the second time this season that the Celtics have scored fewer than 105 factors per 100 possessions in consecutive video games. The opposite time was in January, after they misplaced to the Spurs within the second recreation of a back-to-back after which misplaced in Indiana with out Jaylen Brown (or Tatum).
A few of it’s just a few poor capturing from the skin. Their three losses on this sequence are simply the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty first occasions that the Celtics have shot under 30% from 3-point vary this season. Sam Hauser, a profession 41% shooter from deep, had two wiiiiide-open appears late within the third quarter on Thursday, and he missed them each.
The Sixers have additionally been terrific defensively. Paul George was, as soon as once more, stout when guarding the Celtics’ stars. A number of Sixers made well timed weak-side rotations to dam pictures on the rim. And even Maxey held his personal on that finish of the ground.
The Celtics scored simply 4 factors on their first 10 possessions, and Maxey performed an enormous function in a few the Sixers’ stops. On the Celtics’ first possession of the sport, he chased Hauser round two screens and made an awesome path contest on his 3-point try.
A couple of minutes later, Maxey bought switched onto Brown and efficiently defended him within the submit:
Embiid bought beat off the dribble a number of occasions in Recreation 6 and can should be higher in Recreation 7 on Saturday. However as a gaggle, the Sixers are performing some terrific work towards what was the league’s second-ranked offense within the common season.
3. Sixers lastly cease ‘Spain’
The Celtics had some success with their “Spain” or “stack” pick-and-roll motion, the place a regular, excessive pick-and-roll is adopted by a back-screen on the preliminary screener’s defender. Their first factors of the evening got here when Hauser blew by Embiid after the Spain motion compelled a swap.
Boston’s second bucket of the evening was one other Spain pick-and-roll the place Embiid bought screened by White and VJ Edgecombe (White’s defender) was late to select up Tatum’s drive to the bucket.
Early within the third quarter, Tatum had a fair clearer path to the rim when Hauser screened Embiid and Maxey (anxious about sticking to Hauser) failed to change onto the drive:
However on the very subsequent possession, the Sixers had been prepared. Embiid sunk again within the paint to keep away from getting hit with the back-scree and George navigated the ball-screen expertly to get again in entrance of Tatum. Maxey initially stayed with Hauser, however then got here from Tatum’s blind facet and poked the ball away:
Spain could be a tough motion to cease, as a result of it includes communication and coordination between three defenders as an alternative of simply two. The Sixers additionally ran it on Thursday and we will anticipate to see extra of it in Recreation 7.
4. The Celtics’ 3s aren’t happening … or getting up
Along with connecting on simply 29% of their 3-pointers in Video games 5 and 6, the Celtics have additionally been capturing fewer 3s. After taking an incredible 58% of their pictures from past the arc over Video games 2-4, they’ve taken simply 46% of their pictures from deep over the past two. That’s a noteworthy drop-off, and the speed on Thursday climbed after they took their starters out early within the fourth quarter.
That 46% remains to be a better charge than nearly each different crew in these playoffs. And extra vital, in fact, is the success charge.
Within the common season, the Celtics had been 38-5 (.884) after they shot the league common (36.0%) or higher from 3-point vary and 18-21 (.462) after they didn’t. That was the league’s second-biggest differential, and the most important among the many 16 playoff groups.
That differential was extra about how good they had been after they shot effectively, and that 18-21 mark was nonetheless the ninth-best document when capturing worse than common. However this has been a make-or-miss sequence on their finish of the ground, and Boston might want to make extra in Recreation 7 on Saturday.
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John Schuhmann has lined the NBA for greater than 20 years. You may e-mail him right here, discover his archive right here and follow him on Bluesky.