Former local hero Julius Erving celebrated the end of the most thrilling game of the playoffs between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics. The home players from Philadelphia prevailed in overtime and equalized the semifinals of the Eastern Conference. They won by a breath, the time it took Marcus Smart to launch into Boston in his team’s final attack. The basket went in and many fans feared the worst, but the shot came out late and was canceled as a result. The ones who sighed then were the Philadelphia fans.
The Philadelphians seemed to have controlled the game from the first quarter when the Celtics had a disastrous shooting streak. The first quarter of the game was 27-19 in favor of the home team. The lead increased by one point by half-time and stayed at that nine points early in the fourth quarter. However, with Al Horford in defense and Jayson Tatum everywhere, they managed to turn the tide and take the lead with four minutes remaining.
A shiver ran through the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia as the regular season’s best player, having a great game, got blocked in offense and couldn’t find his way against Horford. James Harden pulled the chestnuts out of the fire late in the fourth quarter to force overtime (107-107).
Overtime was a slugfest. Tyrese Maxey put the 76ers ahead. The Bostonians chained two successful attacks, the second a tackle from Marcus Smart with an extra shot, to go three points clear. Embiid missed a three and Harden missed another, but in both cases the rebound favored the Sixers. The MVP saw another basket and put Philadelphia on point (111-112). After Boston wasted two drives, Embiid scored again but was flagged for a dubious foul on offense. With 1:49 to go, the Celtics were up 111-112. Horford missed a three-pointer. Harden missed another, but Embiid was fouled on the rebound. He then received another and had two free throws to put his team ahead (113-112) with 56 seconds remaining.
A Tatum three with 37 seconds to go gave the Celtics a 113-115 lead. The Harden Embiid duo played it. The center sought out the internship, brought it to the brink and from there, Harden scored his 42nd point, completing the scoring (116-115). The Celltics had the last chance but were a few tenths of a second late.
[Noticia de última hora. Habrá ampliación en breve]
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