Tatum drops 51 as Celtics rout Sixers in Game 7

BOSTON -- As Jayson Tatum connected on another 3-pointer midway through a third quarter on Sunday -- en route to outscoring the Philadelphia 76ers in the period by himself -- he turned to a raucous Boston crowd and let out a cathartic yell.

"This is my s---" he said.

Tatum scored 51 points on Sunday afternoon, the most in a Game 7 in NBA history to lead the Celtics to a 112-88 victory on Sunday to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. Tatum broke the record set by Stephen Curry two weeks ago as he scored 50 points in Game 7 of the Golden State Warriors ' first-round series against the Sacramento Kings.

Tatum finished 17 of 28 from the field and added 13 rebounds and five assists, the fifth player in NBA history with 50-10-5 in a playoff game.

After struggling through one of the worst shooting nights of his career in Game 6, Tatum responded with one of the best performances in franchise history. He scored or assisted on 62 points in Game 7, outshining the Sixers star duo of Joel Embiid (15 points) and James Harden (nine points) who combined to score or assist for 44 points for Philadelphia.

The Celtics advanced to the conference finals for the second consecutive season and the fifth time in the past seven seasons. They will host the Miami Heat for Game 1 on Wednesday night.

Tatum called Sunday a chance for the Celtics to redeem themselves after getting routed in front of their home crowd during their last game in Boston, drawing boos from the home crowd. But Tatum also could have been referring to himself after he went 1-for-13 through the first three quarters of Game 6.

It was clear he was ready to respond from the beginning of Game 7. Tatum scored 25 points in the first half after scoring 18 points in the first half of Games 4-6 combined.

Boston raced past Philadelphia in the third quarter, outscoring the Sixers 33-10 after halftime to break the game open. Tatum scored 17 points in the third quarter alone, nearly doubling the Sixers' total alone and pushing the game out of reach.

The Celtics rallied from down 3-2 in the series with two consecutive victories to close out the series, winning Game 6 in Philadelphia before sealing the series on their home floor on Sunday. It mirrored the same situation from last year's Eastern Conference semifinals when Boston came back from down 3-2 to Milwaukee to advance to the conference finals.

As the final seconds of the fourth quarter ticked off the clock, Boston fans began chanting "Beat the Heat. Beat the Heat."