Boston Celtics set NBA East finals duel vs LeBron, Cavs

BOSTON, United States (UPDATED) – The Boston Celtics outlasted a gritty fightback by the Philadelphia 76ers to hammer out a 114-112 Game 5 victory and clinch the last NBA Eastern Conference finals berth on Wednesday, May 9. 

Jayson Tatum buried the go-ahead basket with 18.8 seconds left as the Celtics arranged an East title showdown against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

Tatum finished with 25 points and Jaylen Brown added 24 points in the thriller where the Sixers fought hard to stay alive behind Joel Embiid, Dario Saric, Ben Simmons, and JJ Reddick, whose basket with 3.8 seconds left trimmed the deficit to just a point, 112-113. 

For the second consecutive season, the @celtics are Eastern Conference Finals bound! #NBAPlayoffs#CUsRise pic.twitter.com/wo0Cl1J55K

— NBA (@NBA) May 10, 2018

Tatum broke a 109-109 tie after catching a pass under the basket and Terry Rozier helped seal the win by making a pair of clutch free throws with 9 seconds left. 

The Celtics advanced to the NBA’s Final Four race for the second straight year for a berth in the finals.

Boston was coming off a defeat in Game 4, but managed to impose their will on the 76ers down the stretch in Wednesday’s thriller, improving to 7-0 on their home court in these playoffs.

The 76ers made the Celtics work in a game that featured 21 lead changes.

But Philadelphia had dropped the first 3 games and were ultimately unable to become the first team to rally from 0-3 down to win an NBA playoff series. Teams have now gone 130-0 when leading 3-0.

Embiid and Saric each scored 27 points, while Simmons finished with 18 points and 8 rebounds and 6 assists for Philadelphia, who are 0-15 when losing the first two games of a series.

Tatum is the second rookie this post-season to notch 7 straight 20-plus point playoff games. He joined Utah’s Donovan Mitchell, who did it over the first two rounds for a Jazz team ousted by the Houston Rockets on Tuesday. – Rappler.com