Five incredible 76ers-Celtics Game 7 stats: Joe Mazzulla's lineup gamble was massive misfire

Joel Embiid gets first Game 7 win

The 2022-23 MVP responded from his Game 4 dud by helping lead Philly to its comeback series breakthrough, including with a pair of 30-point efforts in Games 5 and 7. On Saturday, he led the Sixers with 34 points on 12-of-26 shooting, while adding 10 rebounds and six assists. Per Stathead research, he became the first player since Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2021 — and just the seventh all-time — to have 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a Game 7 road win.

Not only did Embiid exorcise playoff demons with the victory, but his performance was also arguably the main reason why Philly is advancing.

Celtics ice cold from deep in losses

In 2024, Boston won an NBA title with a high-volume three-point offense. Two years later, it's exiting in the first round because of the reliance on an outside shot. As ESPN "SportsCenter" host Scott Van Pelt noted on social media, the Celtics shot an astoundingly poor 49-of-179 (27.4 percent) from deep in their four losses, which included three in a row to end the series.

At some point during the cold streak, would it have hurt all that much to try another approach? In Game 7, for example, Boston trimmed a double-digit Philadelphia lead to one a couple of times in the fourth, but instead of attacking the basket to try to take the lead, it settled for jumpers and never once got over the hump. Some may argue that it's easy to question the C's strategy in hindsight, yet we could see in real time that it wasn't working.

Game 7 remains a perfect gift

Sixers forward Paul George celebrated his 36th birthday on Saturday and did so the way six others before him in NBA history have — with a Game 7 win.

Players celebrating a birthday with a win-or-go-home playoff game are now 7-0 after Philly's win over Boston, and George by no means road others' coattails to join the list.

He was active early, cutting to the basket for a dunk to give the 76ers an early 6-0 lead.

Later, George, who scored 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, activated from long rage, hitting a three with the shot-clock draining in the second quarter to push the lead to five, 50-45.

In the third, he drained another three over Celtics forward Sam Hauser, gaining separation off the dribble to extend the advantage to 13.

During the first-round series, George made 55 percent (22-of-40) of his threes. As a secondary scoring option on the Sixers, that kind of efficiency will be crucial to move past the New York Knicks in the semis.

Three Celtics starters combine for zero points

With Jayson Tatum (left knee stiffness) out, coach Joe Mazzulla rolled the dice on a lineup without much experience together. Season-long starters Jaylen Brown and Derrick White were joined in the starting five by center Luka Garza, forward Ron Harper Jr. and guard Baylor Scheierman, who combined for 29 regular-season starts and no points in the Game 7 loss. 

That made the Celtics the first team in NBA playoff history to have three scoreless starters in a game, helping undo the team's 41-3 bench scoring edge.

Mazzulla, a 2025-26 Coach of the Year finalist, pushed all the right buttons during the regular season in coaching the Celtics, who missed Tatum for the majority of the year, to a 56-26 record. But his Game 7 starting rotation will be second-guessed all offseason. In his team's biggest game, Mazzulla got too cute, and it cost Boston dearly.