The Celtics will host the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night as Brown looks to win the seventh Game 7 of his career.
The Boston Celtics will host the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night (7:30 p.m. ET) in Game 7 of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
A win would send the Celtics to the semifinals while a loss would end their season. That would be an extremely disappointing outcome considering the Celtics went 56-26 in the regular season and earned the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.
Furthermore, with the top-seeded Pistons on the ropes against No. 8 Orlando, the Celtics have a potentially clear path to the Eastern Conference Finals that they don't want to squander.
Fortunately, Boston has experience in big games - and in Game 7's.
As noted by Taylor Snow, Jaylen Brown is looking for his seventh career Game 7 win. He's 6-2 in his previous eight Game 7 situations. Only Bill Russell (10) and Sam Jones (9) have won more than seven.
Brown, in his 10th year in the league, has been to the playoffs each season. He helped the Celtics reach the NBA Finals in both 2021-22 and 2023-24, with Boston winning the title in the latter year.
The veteran had an incredible regular season that will likely see him earn a top-10 MVP finish. He averaged 28.7 ppg and 6.9 rebounds, while also dishing out 5.1 assists. He helped carry the offensive load in the wake of Jayson Tatum missing 66 games because of a torn Achilles suffered last May.
Boston will need another solid performance from him in Game 7, but he's struggled in each of the last two contests. Brown was just 7-of-17 from the floor in Game 6, posting a -24 +/- ratio. He was 9-of-23 in Game 5 while posting a -17.
The Celtics lost both games by double digits.
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) shoots in front of Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) during the first quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Bill Streicher-Imagn ImagesAlso need to know
--The Celtics and 76ers have met in 22 previous playoff series in history, with the Celtics going 15-7. They've also won the last six and those records are on the line during Game 7.
--The Celtics have lost two of the three games at TD Garden in this series.
--Saturday night's game will air on NBC and Peacock, giving a broadcaster audience the opportunity to watch the conclusion of the series.
--Tatum now has 3,076 career playoff points, good enough for second-most all-time before hitting the age of 29. He passed his idol Kobe Bryant in Game 5 for that spot, and he now only trails LeBron James.
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