Jayson Tatum drops 51 as Celtics rout Sixers in Game 7 - ESPN

BOSTON — As Jayson Tatum connected on another 3-pointer midway through a third quarter on Sunday — en route to outscoring the Philadelphia 76ers in the period by himself — he turned to a raucous Boston crowd and let out a cathartic yell.

«This is my s---» he said.

Tatum scored 51 points, the most in a Game 7 in NBA history, to lead the Celtics to a 112-88 victory to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. Tatum broke the record set two weeks ago by Stephen Curry, who scored 50 points in Game 7 of the Golden State Warriors' first-round series against the Sacramento Kings.

Tatum went 17-of-28 from the field and added 13 rebounds and five assists, the fifth player in NBA history with at least 50-10-5 in a playoff game.

After struggling through one of the worst shooting nights of his career in Game 6, Tatum responded with one of the best performances in franchise history. He scored or assisted on 62 points in Game 7, outshining the Sixers' star duo of Joel Embiid (15 points) and James Harden (nine points), who combined to score or assist for 44 points.

Jayson Tatum had his fifth career game with 50 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in the playoffs, the most in Celtics' franchise history.

The Celtics advanced to the conference finals for the second consecutive season and the fifth time in the past seven seasons. They will host the Miami Heat in Game 1 on Wednesday night. Boston opened as a -500 favorites to beat the Heat (+380) at Caesars Sportsbook.

Tatum called Sunday a chance for the Celtics to redeem themselves after getting routed in their last game in Boston, drawing boos from the home crowd. But Tatum also could have been referring to himself after he went 1-for-13 through the first three quarters of Game 6.

It was