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The Boston Celtics lived to see another day after grinding out a 95-86 Game 6 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in their Eastern Conference semifinals series, setting the stage for a winner-takes-all Game 7 at TD Garden on Sunday afternoon. The stakes could not be higher, as the winner will move on to the Eastern Conference Finals to take on the Miami Heat, while the loser will head into an offseason full of questions.
There was so much chaos in Game 6 that it makes the setup for this huge Game 7 even more entertaining. Star players were struggling, secondary players stepped up, and neither team seemed to want to win the game. But in the end, a timely hot streak from Jayson Tatum ended up saving Boston and forcing this series to be decided in the seventh and final game.
Tatum catching fire after arguably the worst performance of his entire career was extremely important, but the problem is that Boston still hasn't won anything in this series. That's why Tatum and the Celtics cannot get complacent heading into Game 7, as it is vital for the C's best player to show up throughout the entirety of Game 7.
Jayson Tatum cannot take his foot off the gas pedal in Game 7
There may not have ever been a performance like Tatum's in Game 6 against the Sixers. On one hand, you want to criticize him for turning in one of the worst three-quarter performances in playoff history, in which he had scored just three points on 1/13 shooting from the field. Tatum was contributing elsewhere, but he was missing wide open layups and making the incorrect play every time he touched the ball on offense.
And then with four minutes left, Tatum figured everything out. He nailed a tough corner three over Joel Embiid to give Boston a lead they wouldn't relinquish before following that up with an even tougher stepback three over Tyrese Maxey. Tatum would hit another pair of threes to ice the game, forcing a Game 7 in the process.
In the end, you really can't be mad at Tatum, because he saved the Celtics, right? Boston was waiting the entire game for him to show up, because if they even got the slightest bit of production from him, they would win. And sure enough, that ended up being what happened, but it doesn't necessarily erase what we saw earlier in the game either.
It's unknown whether or not there's some sort of injury impacting his play, but when it comes to scoring the ball lately, Tatum has been extremely inconsistent for the Celtics. He's now had three straight awful first quarters for the Celtics, and while he's still averaging 25.3 points per game in this series, he's shooting just 41.7 percent from the field and 31.9 percent from behind the arc.
Jayson Tatum has been making a big impact in other areas of the game for Boston as his other per game averages from this series show (10.8 RPG, 5 APG, 1.5 BPG, 1.3 SPG) but this is the Celtics best player. He needs to score at will in addition to rebounding well, finding open teammates, and playing strong defense. When Tatum plays like himself, the Sixers aren't in the same stratosphere as the Celtics.
That's why it is imperative that this final four-minute stretch for Tatum gets carried over to Game 7. He 100 percent cannot come out of the gates slow like he has in Games 4-6. The Celtics still somehow led for virtually the entire first half in Game 6 despite getting just one point from Tatum, but they couldn't overcome his early struggles in Games 4 & 5. Again, there's no margin for error in Game 7 at this point.
Boston doesn't necessarily have to run their offense through Tatum, but he needs to be able to capitalize on the opportunities he will find himself with in this do-or-die game. Again, Tatum hasn't been getting defended by P.J. Tucker in this series for quite some time, meaning he has an advantage over whoever is defending him. Whether it's pulling the trigger on an off-dribble three, or taking the ball to the rim, Tatum needs to win his matchups from the get-go on offense.
The Sixers are doing a great job at crowding the paint on Tatum, but he's also shown very little desire to challenge Embiid at the rim as well. Embiid is averaging 3.2 blocks per game in this series, yes, but Tatum is as skilled a finisher at the rim as there is. Granted, he was missing wide open layups in Game 6, but that cannot deter Tatum from attacking Embiid in this game.
The Celtics are going to need Tatum to carry them to victory throughout a full contest in Game 7 if they want to win. The Sixers are going to come out swinging, and chances are they will convert a lot of the open looks they missed in Game 6 that caused their offense to collapse down the stretch. Typically, a team's star player isn't their X-factor in a do-or-die Game 7, but it's clear that Boston's ability to win or lose this game falls almost solely on whether or not their best player in Jayson Tatum decides to show up.
