BEN Simmons’ first postseason has come to an end, with the Philadelphia 76ers falling to the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
In what was a hard-fought, physical series, the Celtics put together a late surge to pick up the 114-112 victory, advancing to the conference finals, where they’ll face LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Simmons finished with 18 points, eight rebounds, and six assists in the loss, with his historic rookie season reaching its conclusion with this second round exit.
The Australian point guard averaged 14.4 ppg, 8.2 rpg, and 6.4 apg, over the course of the series, but was a -63 in his time on the court. While he looks back at his season as an overall success, Simmons is disappointed at his second round exit, and hopes to use it to learn moving forward.
“I’ve been healthy all year. I’ve been blessed enough to play a full year. In that way, I look at it; it’s been a blessing to be able to play in the NBA and have a full year where I haven’t been hurt,” Simmons said, postgame.
“But, the feeling right now; I didn’t wanna be done. I feel like I had a lot more to go, but you’ve gotta look at the positive and negatives. Keep moving forward.”
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Big Ben rattles the rim 0:39
The Celtics were led by Jayson Tatum’s 25 points, while Jaylen Brown finished with an efficient 24 points. Al Horford took over late in the game, and ended with 15 points, eight rebounds, and three steals.
Joel Embiid and Dario Saric had 27 points apiece for the 76ers.
Aron Baynes is now the only Australian remaining in the playoffs, with the big-man finishing with 13 points and nine rebounds in his 25 minutes of action.
“I think we were in a whole too deep, that we put ourselves in,” Simmons said.
“Coming into this building, the fans are amazing. They’re loud, they talk a lot of sh** to you. On that basis, it’s hard to play here. At the same time, I’m telling my teammates (to) give it everything you have. I think I got that from everybody. We’ve gotta move forward, gotta get better, and look ahead now.”
The game was close throughout the second half, and, like the rest of the series, went down to the wire. The 76ers took a 107-103 lead on the back off a Simmons floater in the paint, and looked in control with 2:01 to play.
Tatum hit a pair of free throws, before Saric made a layup, but an alley-oop dunk from Horford was seemingly wanted turned the momentum back in the Celtics’ favour.
After Redick missed a good look from beyond the arc, Smart tipped in a Tatum miss, before the star rookie hit the go-ahead layup with 22.5 seconds to play; the Celtics leading 111-109.
Embiid missed two good looks at the rim on the ensuing possession, with Rozier’s free throws making it a two-possession game, with the Celtics in the lead. Redick would hit a three-pointer that would prove to be a mere consolation, as the Celtics advanced.
Game 1 of the conference finals will tip off on Monday, May 14. The Cavaliers will tavel to Boston.
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Despite their multiple key injuries, the Boston Celtics are advancing to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight season. They eliminated the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night, winning Game 5, 114-112. It was a thrilling game, with the Sixers battling back from a double-digit deficit in the third quarter to make it a closely contested contest the rest of the way. Things went down to the wire, with the Celtics taking the lead in the final minute, and JJ Redick hitting a 3 to make it a one-point game with four seconds to play. But the Celtics held on to secure the win, and the series.
Now, the Celtics will move on to face the Cleveland Cavaliers, just as they did last season in the ECF. The series will begin on Sunday.
Boston Celtics 4, Philadelphia 76ers 1
Playoff series results
Season series: Celtics win 4-1
SportsLine projections:
According to SportsLine data scientist Stephen Oh, the Celtics had a 88.5 percent chance to win the series. SportsLine will have game-by-game gambling advice for every playoff series here.
2018 NBA Playoff Bracket
Jayson Tatum caught a pass underneath the basket, shook off a hit and went up for the go-ahead lay-up with 23 seconds left as the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 114-112 on Wednesday night to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
Tatum scored 25 points, Jaylen Brown had 24 and Terry Rozier 17, sinking a pair of free throws after forcing Joel Embiid’s turnover in the final seconds. Al Horford added 15 points and eight rebounds for Boston, who will play Cleveland for the second straight year for a spot in the NBA finals. Game 1 of the series is on Sunday in Boston.
NBA (@NBA) Smart to Tatum in the clutch! #CUsRise #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/5cVJ1t53Tf
“I feel like we more together [than last year],” Rozier said. “Obviously guys been going down all year, and it’s like you never know who’s going to go down. But we found a way, we pulled together. I’m not saying if we’re better or not, but we definitely going back to the Eastern Conference finals, so that’s a blessing.”
Embiid had 27 points and 12 rebounds for the 76ers, who roared back into the playoffs for the first time since 2012, winning 20 out of 21 games before Boston beat them in three straight games to open the conference semi-finals. Dario Saric had 27 points and 10 rebounds on Wednesday night, while Ben Simmons, many people’s choice for rookie of the year, added 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Embiid had a chance to tie the game after Tatum with 18.8 seconds left but he missed a heavily contested lay-up.
The Celtics and Cavaliers will meet in the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year, but both teams have undergone near-complete overhauls since the Cavaliers eliminated Boston in five games last year. Only four players on each side remain from that series.
Australia’s Aron Baynes was the subject of an odd statistic. He scored one three-pointer, taking his total for the series to seven. He has more in these five games than in the other 409 games of his career combined, according to ESPN.
