Embiid Exorcises Game 7 Demons; 76ers Pull Off Historic 3-1 Comeback As Celtics Wilt

Last Updated:May 03, 2026, 08:38 IST

Joel Embiid powered the 76ers to a 109-100 Game 7 win over the Celtics, completing a 3-1 comeback and ending a 44-year playoff drought against Boston.

Let’s keep it simple: the Boston Celtics were beaten on their own floor, and it wasn’t pretty.

A fired-up Philadelphia 76ers delivered a statement 109-100 win at TD Garden in Game 7, completing a historic comeback from 3-1 down to seal the series.

Philadelphia hadn’t beaten Boston in a playoff series in 44 years, losing six straight matchups before this. And now, the Celtics find themselves on the wrong side of history — the first team since the 2020 Clippers to blow a 3-1 lead.

Embiid Leads From the Front

When the stakes are this high, stars are expected to show up — and Joel Embiid did exactly that.

Embiid banished his past demons and rose to the occasion with a dominant all-around performance, finishing with 34 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and a block — never letting Boston settle, controlling both ends of the floor.

And to add to the madness, Tyrese Maxey added 30 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, while rookie VJ Edgecombe chipped in with 23 points in a breakout showing.

Celtics Fight, But Fall Short

Coming back from 3-1 down in a series is a near-impossible task. Pulling off a comeback of such proportions is a tedious process of its own.

But, when you have ‘The Process’ on your team, things get easier.

The Celtics were without Jayson Tatum, and it showed especially in key moments.

Still, they didn’t fold so easily. Boston erased a 15-point first-half deficit and even threatened after trailing by 18 in the fourth. The crowd tried to lift them, and for a while, it worked.

But when it mattered most, the offense dried up.

The law of averages was well and truly on display as Mazzulla’s insistence on letting the three-ball fly came back to bite them in the back.

How? Well, Boston finished 13-of-49 from three-point range and shot just 39.8% overall, with their reliance on perimeter shooting ultimately backfiring.

And if this wasn’t bad enough, a brutal stretch of 10 straight missed field goals (eight from beyond the arc), coupled with a Maxey outburst in the fourth, killed all hopes of a comeback.

What’s Next

While Boston heads into an offseason full of questions, the 76ers move on with momentum.

The Sixers now face the New York Knicks in the second round, with Game 1 set for Monday night at Madison Square Garden.

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