Sixers fall behind early, falter late in critical 95-86 Game 6 loss to Boston Celtics

Jayson Tatum dribbled through his legs and rose up behind the three-point arc near the right wing, firing over an off-balance Joel Embiid.

The fourth deep shot in less than five minutes by the Boston Celtics’ All-NBA guard swished through the net. And it sent the 76ers fans who had arrived at the Wells Fargo Center eager to celebrate their team finally overcoming the second-round hurdle to the exits.

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Tatum’s late flurry — which arrived following a horrific 1-of-13 shooting performance through the initial three quarters — sent the Celtics to a dramatic 95-86 series-tying Game 6 victory Thursday night. Now this Eastern Conference semifinal series comes down to Sunday’s Game 7 in Boston, after which the Sixers will either party like it’s 2001 — the last time they advanced past the second round — or face a jarring end of their season.

“I just didn’t think we had a game of great trust tonight,” said coach Doc Rivers, referring back to one of his season-long buzzwords. “I thought our guys all wanted to win. They played that way, and sometimes I think that gets in your way. I thought that happened tonight.”

The Sixers’ offense faltered down the stretch of a tense fourth quarter, scoring only three points in the final 5 minutes, 57 seconds. Tatum (16 points) outscored the Sixers (13 points) by himself in that final period when they missed 15 of their 20 shots and all eight of their three-pointers.

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After the game, an openly dejected Tyrese Maxey (26 points, five rebounds, three assists) self-criticized when he inadvertently stepped on teammate De’Anthony Melton’s foot on a defensive switch, leaving “too much space” for one of Tatum’s three-point makes. He also lamented not forcing Tatum inside the arc on the step-back that put the Celtics up, 87-83, with less than four minutes to go. A few minutes later, Maxey circled back to that miscue, “I’m kicking myself. ... Instead of dancing with him, I should have forced him to his side and let him get inside the 3.”

“Once he got it rolling, it’s tough, man,” Maxey added. “And we couldn’t score.”

As a team, Celtics made 15 of their 35 three-point attempts. The Sixers, meanwhile, went 8-of-34 from deep and shot 36.1% overall. Rivers and stars Embiid and James Harden all expressed satisfaction in the looks they received, even after Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla switched to a bigger starting lineup featuring Robert Williams III and Al Horford to crowd the paint.

“It’s a make-or-miss league,” said Embiid, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player who finished with 26 points on 9-of-19 shooting, with 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. “Tonight, we missed a lot of good, open looks that we’re going to make.”

Added Rivers: “The ball didn’t move. … I thought there were plenty of opportunities to swing, catch, get Joel the ball in the right spots on the elbow, and we just didn’t do it. I’ll watch the film and I’ll give you a better answer tomorrow, but I didn’t think we trusted. It didn’t matter what lineup [the Celtics used]. We didn’t score on any lineup tonight. We struggled scoring.”

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Long before taking control in those final minutes, Boston also came out much more energized following a flat performance in front of their home crowd in a Game 5 defeat. They made eight of their first 11 three-point shots, racked up 16 fast-break points in the first half and held the Sixers to 34.1% from the floor before intermission. And they built that advantage with Tatum missing all 10 of his shots.

That all led to a 16-point second-quarter deficit for the Sixers before they closed the gap in the third and took a two-point lead into the final quarter.

Georges Niang banged home a corner three-pointer that cut the Celtics’ lead to 62-60 with less than six minutes to play in the third quarter before Embiid drew a foul and hit the game-tying free throws and Harden followed with two foul shots to give the Sixers their first lead of the game at the 4:37 mark. Another Niang deep shot extended the Sixers’ advantage to 69-65 with about two minutes to play in the period. A driving Embiid finish put his team up, 71-66.

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On a night Harden and Tobias Harris shot a combined 5 of 23 from the floor, Maxey largely carried his breakout Game 5 performance over to Thursday.

After his team fell into an early 12-point hole, Maxey capped a 9-0 spurt with a three-pointer that sent the crowd into a frenzy. He hit another deep shot in the second period’s final seconds to cut Boston’s lead to 50-43. And early in the third quarter, he got free to receive a full-court pass for the fast-break layup to get his team within 52-45.

Later, Maxey gave the Sixers a 66-65 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter, and threw down a dunk off a baseline drive to tie the score at 79 at the 7:11 mark of the fourth. Less than two minutes later, he drew a clear-path foul and, after an official snafu initially allowed Embiid to take the free throws, he sank both attempts.

Much was made before and after the game about the Celtics’ personnel adjustment, with Williams moving into the starting lineup in place of guard Derrick White.

That move still gave Boston’s bench plenty of scoring punch. Malcolm Brogdon, the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, scored 11 of his 16 points in the first quarter on 4-of-4 shooting. At the end of the third quarter, the Celtics’ two-man reserve unit of Brogdon and White had outscored the Sixers’ four-man second unit, 22-9.

The Sixers’ reserves were a more of a mixed bag. Niang’s three-pointers ignited the crowd. Melton finished with five rebounds and was a perimeter defensive sub down the stretch, but he went 0-for-5 from the floor including including two key fourth-quarter misfires from long range. After providing an unexpected boost in Game 5, Danuel House Jr. finished with three points and two rebounds in seven minutes. Paul Reed only played six minutes as Embiid’s backup, and went scoreless with one rebound.

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