BOSTON – It’s not uncommon to see a single-player pop-out knockout. But it is something to witness when the nine players on the field are standing still.
Game 1 of this grand Eastern Conference semi-final between Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celticsa contest in which MVP made it to the final Joel Embiid was disqualified for a knee sprain, which happened at such an awkward time on Monday night.
An inexplicable misstep.
A collective shell shock response.
And a free basket helped change the outcome in 76ers . 119-115 win.
The hero of the play is Tyrese Maxey – played with 5 fouls and finished off one of the best defensive assets he has this season – who was so stunned he almost turned around while sprinting down the pitch to see if he could be the victim of an elaborate reality joke or not.
33 seconds left. The Celtics took a one-point lead, with a chance to close the game in a breathless manner.
“We’re starting to look like we’re in the area, but we’re actually in[-to-man]”, said 76ers coach Doc Rivers. “We changed everything to try to keep them up front.”
The 76ers defended four different Celtics acts in the play.
Brown Jaylen tried to drive but was stopped by Tobias Harrisso Brown pretends to pump the ball and passes it out.
“It’s just us scrambling,” Harris said. “All we know and understand is that they have five guys out there who can make shots and make shots from dribbles.”
The ball then goes to Smart Marcus, who wanted to eat 3 pointers but was stopped by Maxey. Smart drive and kick it to Jayson Tatumwho saw Maxey recover and approached him to force another dummy pump.
“We took them off the three-point line two or three times,” says Maxey. “When I took Tatum out of 3, I looked to the other end and saw [on the shot clock] no time to shoot.”
Tatum has moved to Malcolm Brogdonwho tried to drive but hit a James Harden–PJ Tucker double group. And then there was Brogdon, this season’s NBA Sixth Player of the Year, who had 20 points in the game, snuffing out the hot potato with a desperate quick ball that could become the crux of the round. Eastern Conference knockout.
“Confusion,” Brogdon said. “Revenue. It happens.”
The ball flew over Tatum’s head, clear target, with alarming speed and fell into Maxey’s hand when the fire meter was 0.1 second. One tenth of a second that’s all.
That allowed Harden to put the 76ers ahead with the last of his 45 points on the 3-pointer line 21 seconds later (after Tatum put Boston ahead with a pair of free throws). Harden’s incredible performance was not in vain. Considering his personal ledger of non-delivery during post-season pressures, it would probably go down in history if it failed.
It gives the 76ers a home advantage in the series against the team that already owned them in the regular season, beating them three out of four times.
It brought great comfort to Embiid, not only because it helped his team win without him, but also eased the pressure on him needing to be back in Game 2 on Wednesday. The 76ers and Embiid were hoping he would continue to make progress after a platelet-rich plasma treatment last week for the injured lateral ligament in his right knee, but he was unable to do so. show any running since Monday night. Knowing they’ll be heading back to Philadelphia for Game 3 with nothing worse than a split, this gives some other options for the upcoming decision on whether to use him in Game 2.
Only, it’s almost not.
When that moment ended as Maxey caught that laser beam, the firing clock rang. And anyway it was a strange sight — a Celtics player passing the ball directly to the opponent in a position that could easily run to the other end — the whistle to stop the game was the logical response. only.
And so everyone stood still. The fans at TD Garden watched without proper emotion, not fully understanding what they were seeing.
“I was like, ‘Wait a minute,'” Rivers said. “I looked and no one moved. It was the strangest show — probably one of the strangest plays I’ve ever seen. It was a difference of half a second. If the ball was in the air, then that’s 24 -second violation.”
Go frame by frame. Maxey has the ball in the smallest window. And the referees let him keep playing.
“We all thought it was a violation of the clock,” Tatum said.
“That’s crazy, unlimited,” center 76ers Paul Reed speak. “Because I won’t lie: I thought it would last 24 seconds [violation].”
Maxey made his decision.
“I caught it, and I was running and I don’t know if I heard a whistle or a whistle – just when I was about to pick up the ball,” he said. “I’m glad I moved on. But man, it was the right place at the right time.”
In the arena it wasn’t even clear that the basket was actually counted until the scoreboard recorded it after the Celtics called out of time. Maxey went too fast with 28 seconds left, not only giving the 76ers the lead but also guaranteeing his team a 2 to 1 chance and a final shot, if needed.
That final ownership went to Harden, who nailed a brilliant 3-point back to break Boston’s heart.
“For the record, [Maxey] got to the free-throw line and turned around and almost stopped because he said he thought he heard the whistle, which would be crazy if that happened,” Rivers said.
“So I’m glad he put it in. That’s all I have to say.”
