at 
Philadelphia 76ers (3-3)  at  Boston Celtics (3-3)
Saturday, May 2, 2026
7:30 PM ET
First Round Game #7  Home Game #4
TV:  Peacock/NBC
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub,  97.5 Fanatic, Sirius XM
TD Garden


Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Derrick White vs Tyrese Maxey

Shooting Guard
vs
Jaylen Brown vs VJ Edgecombe

Small Forward
vs
Sam Hauser vs Kelly Oubre, Jr

Poward Forward
vs
Jayson Tatum vs Paul George 

Center
vs
Neemias Queta vs Joel Embiid

Celtics Reserves
Payton Pritchard
Hugo Gonzalez
Luka Garza
Amare Williams
Baylor Scheierman
Jordan Walsh
Max Shulga
Nikola Vucevic
Ron Harper, Jr
Delano Banton
John Tonje

2-Way Players
None

Injuries/Out
None

Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla

76ers Reserves
Andre Drummond
Quentin Grimes
Kyle Lowry
Justin Edwards
Trendon Watford
Dalen Terry
Dominick Barlow
Jabari Walker
Adem Bona

2-Way Players
MarJon Beauchamp
Tyrese Martin

Injuries/Out
Joel Embiid (appendix) probable

Head Coach
Nick Nurse

Game Notes
It's win or go home for the Celtics as they host the Philadelphia 76ers for Game 7 of their first round series. 
After the Celtics led the series 3-1, they lost Games 4 and 5 to bring the series to a 3-3 tie. The Celtics dominated Game 1 with a 123-91 win over the 76ers. The 76ers topped the Celtics 111-97 in Game 2 to tie the series at 1 game each. The series shifted to Philadelphia where the Celtics squeezed out a win in Game 3 108-100 and dominated the 76ers 113-97 in Game 4.

After the blow out win in Philadelphia, it seemed as though the Celtics were primed to finish the series at home in Game 5. It appeared that they would do just that as they led by 7 at the half and by 13 in the 3rd quarter. But they completely fell apart in the 4th quarter to lose the game 113-97. The Celtics scored just 11 points in the 4th quarter, shooting just 3-22. In Game 6 in Philadelphia, the Celtics had a similarly poor showing and lost 106-93 to force a Game 7. 

Teams that are up 3-1 in a series win the series 95.6% of the time.  Teams that are up 3-2 in a best of 7 series wins the series 84% of the time. 357 teams have gone up 3-2 in a series and 300 of those teams won the series. Of those teams, 170 won Game 6 to close out the series while 130 lost game 6 and won Game 7.  Only 13 teams have come back from a 1-3 deficit to win the series. 

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have both had considerable Game 7 experience in their tenure with the Celtics.  As a duo, they have played in 7 game 7's total and have gone 5-2 in those series.  Joel Embiid has played in 3 Game 7's and is 0-3 in those Game 7's.  Tyrese Maxey is 0-1 in his career in Game 7's Paul George has played in 5 Game 7's between the Pacers and the Clippers and is 2-3 in those games. 

Since 2003, 17 teams have either won their first round series in either 4 or 5 games (74%). Since 2015, every team that won the championship has gotten past the first round in 5 games or less. The Celtics in 2024 won their first round series over the Heat 4 games to 1. This might seem like a dire statistic, but there is a positive note to add from Celtics history. In the 2008 playoffs, it took 7 games for the Celtics to get past Atlanta in the first round and those playoffs worked out just fine for that team. However, this game will be played on the court with a different group of players and not in history. 

One of the advantages that the Celtics have is their depth. In Game 1, the Celtics got 37 points from their bench while the 76ers got 27 points from theirs. Of course, there were about 6 minutes of garbage time in that game. In Game 2, the 76ers got 21 points from their bench while the Celtics got 20 from theirs. In Game 3, the Celtics' bench put up 35 points while the 76ers got just 14 points from theirs. In Game 4, the Celtics bench put up 57 points while the 76ers got 24 from theirs. In Game 5, bench scoring was 29-25 in favor of the Celtics with neither group playing exceptionally well.

 In Game 6, the bench scoring favored the Celtics 38-6 with the caveat that the Celtics pulled their starters and played only their reserves in the final quarter.  That group immediately ran off an 11-0 run and cut the lead to 12.  The starters had abandoned the ball movement that made them so tough to beat all season and especially Tatum and Brown were trying to do too much and spent too much time dribbling and didn't move the ball.  They also didn't hustle for boards and seemed a step too slow all game.  The starters had 3 offensive rebounds through 3 quarters while the reserves grabbed 5 in just 10 minutes in the 4th quarter.  Hopefully the starters get back to playing Celtics basketball in this one but if not, hopefully Joe will turn to the reserves quicker. 

The Celtics come into this game with a clean injury report. once again.  Jayson Tatum left Game 6 in the third quarter with some calf tightness and did not return but all indications are that he is fine and will play in this game.   Joel Embiid is once again listed as probable for this game. He returned from an appendix removal to play in Game 4. Recovery for an appendectomy is anywhere from 20 days to 5 weeks and Embiid returned just 17 days after having his appendix removed.
He played very well in Games 5 and 6 with no minutes restrictions. 

Key Matchups
vs
Derrick White vs Tyrese Maxey
In Game 1, the Celtics were able to hold Maxey to 21 points on 20 shots along with 1 rebound and 8 assists while shooting 40% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc.  He pretty much had his way in Game 2 with 29 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 steals while shooting 39.3% from the field and 41.7% from beyond the arc.  In Game 3, he scored 31 points but took 31 shots to get them.  He finished with 31 points, 6 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks while shooting 38.7% from the field and 38.5% from beyond the arc.  With Embiid's return, Maxey took just 14 shots in Game 4 and finished with 22 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 block. In Game 5, he finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 1 block while shooting 55.6% from the field and 30.3% from beyond the arc.  In Game 6, he once again excelled with 30 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals while shooting 50% from the field and 60% from beyond the arc.  The Celtics must do a better job of defending him in this game.

vs
Neemias Queta vs Joel Embiid
After missing the first 3 games of the series, Embiid returned to the 76ers for Game 4.  He started out strong, scoring the 76ers first 8 points and drawing 2 quick fouls on Queta.   He played 34 minutes, finishing with 26 points, 10 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block while shooting 42.9% from the field and 16.7% from beyond the arc.   He struggle a bit in the first half of Game 5, but took over the 2nd half as he played more in the paint and finished with 33 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists and 1 block while shooting 52.2% from the field but going 0-5 from three. In Game 6, Embiid finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists and 1 steal while shooting 33.3% from the field and 20% from beyond the arc.  Queta needs to find a way to stay out of foul trouble and the Celtics need to keep Embiid out of the paint.   

Honorable Mention
Jayson Tatum vs Paul George 
Neither of these players were able to play in any of the 4 games between Boston and Philly this season.  In Game 1, George finished with 17 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist while shooting 50% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc, but he only took 8 shots. In game 2, he finished with 19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block while shooting 53.8% from the field and 40.3% from beyond the arc.  In Game 3, he finished with 18 points, no rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals while shooting 50% from the field and 57.1% from beyond the arc.  In Game 4, he finished with 16 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals and 1 block while shooting 46.2% from the field and 3-3 from beyond the arc.  In Game 5, he finished with 16 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals while shooting 46.2% from the field and 44.4% from beyond the arc.  ln Game 6, he finished with 23 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.  He has been the most consistent player on the Sixers and the Celtics need to defend him better, especially on the perimeter. 

Keys to the Game
Defense - As always, defense is absolutely the key to winning this, and every, game.  Defense becomes even more important in the playoffs.  It is very true that defense wins championships.   In Game 1, the Celtics held the 76ers to 38.9% from the field and 17.4% from beyond the arc. In game 2, the Celtics defense faltered as the 76ers shot 47.8% from the field and 48.7% from beyond the arc.  In Game 3, the 76ers shot 43.7% from the field and 34.3% from beyond the arc. In Game 4, the Celtics held the 76ers to 41.3% from the field and 30% from beyond the arc.  The Celtics allowed the 76ers to shoot 50% from the field and 35.7% from beyond the arc in Game 5.  When the Celtics shot weren't falling in Game 5, the Celtics defense disappeared also.  In Game 6 the Celtics once again allowed way too many easy shots and were lax on defense.   The Celtics have to play tough, physical, lock down defense from the opening tip until the final buzzer if they want to win this game. 

Rebound - Rebounding is also one of the biggest keys to winning every game and has definitely been a big factor in this series. In the regular season, the Celtics were 43-12  in games that they tied or out-rebounded opponents and just 11-13 in games in which they were out-rebounded. In Game 1, the Celtics out-rebounded the 76ers 43-40. In Game 2, they out-rebounded the 76ers 50-42, but they were unable to capitalize on them since they shot so poorly.  In Game 3, the Celtics once again out-rebounded the 76ers 45-37.   And, in their big win in Game 4, they out-rebounded the 76ers 51-30.  In Game 5, especially in the 2nd half, they stopped fighting for rebounds and the 76ers had 47 rebounds to 49 for the Celtics.  In Game 6, the 76ers had the edge with 48 rebounds to 46 for the Celtics.  Much of rebounding is effort and the Celtics need to put out more effort to grab rebounds then the 76ers.    They have to fight harder to grab rebounds than the 76ers if they want to win this game. 

3 Point Shooting - Three point shooting has been a big story for the Celtics in this series.  They shot 42% from three in their 3 wins but only 28% from three in their 3 losses.  The Celtics were 2-4 in last year's playoffs, 0-3 in this year's playoffs and 14-17 in the regular season when they shoot under 30% from beyond the arc.   In Game 2, they shot 26% from beyond the arc. In Game 5, they shot 28.2% on threes. In Game 6, they shot 29% from beyond the arc.   They have to stay focused and they need to work to get open and move the ball to find the best shots. When they get bogged down and try to do too much individually without passing the ball,  they struggle.  They need to keep the ball moving and not lapse into ISO ball.   If the 3's aren't falling, they need to take the ball inside. And they need to defend the perimeter or the 76ers will beat them with 3's of their own. The Celtics need to stay focused on offense and play tough perimeter defense in order to win this game.

Effort and Focus for 48 Minutes - The Celtics have to play with extra effort overall for all 4 quarters. In their losses in Game 2, Game 5, and Game 6 they allowed the 76ers to play with more energy than them for periods of time during the game. They play well for stretches but let up and allow the Sixers to surge ahead. The reserves showed what the starters had been missing when they brought energy and effort to the 4th quarter on both ends of the court and went on an 11-0 run.  The Celtics had 13 turnovers and they missed 7 or 16 free throws and that shows a lack of focus.  The Celtics must stay focused and give maximum effort from the opening tip until the final buzzer. 

X-Factors
Home Game - Teams play all season to secure home court in the playoffs but in this series, the 76ers have won more games in Boston than the Celtics have.  The Celtics need to feed off the energy of the crowd and hopefully, the 76ers will be distracted by travel and the hostile crowd.  The Celtics should play harder to win on their home court. They need to protect home court and win the series in front of their own fans..  The Celtics crowd will be loud and the Celtics need to use that to their advantage and get the win.

Coaching - Joe Mazzulla is in his 4th season as Celtics' head coach.  He won a title in 2024 with a very talented team that was packed with shooting stars.  Now he has to win in a different way since his personnel has changed and he did a great job in the regular season.   Nick Nurse is in his 8th season as a head coach overall and his 3rd as the 76ers head coach.  He won a title with the Raptors in 2019.  In the playoffs, coaching becomes more important as it becomes a game of adjustments as they play the same team game after game.  Joe has been questioned about not playing the reserves enough since they were a big reason for the Celtics success in the regular season.  He needs to reel the starters in if they play selfishly or without energy and he needs to be ready to make adjustments in game if needed,. 

Officiating - Officiating is always an x-factor.  Every crew calls  the game differently.  Some call it tight and call every bit of contact while others allow more physical play.  Some favor the home team while others call both sides evenly.  We have seen them call offensive fouls on Jaylen Brown far more than they have all season and he needs to adjust to avoid foul trouble.  He has drawn 10 offensive fouls so far in the series and he needs to adjust to how they are calling the game.     The Celtics can't allow the no calls and bad calls to affect their focus on playing the game.