Philadelphia 76ers @ Boston Celtics
Sunday, April 19, 2026 at 1:00 PM ET
TD Garden, Boston, MA | Game ID: 42500111
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
BOS 33 31 31 28 123PHI 18 28 25 20 91
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Jayson Tatum has strong return to playoffs for Celtics, who rout 76ers 123-91 in Game 1
BOSTON -- — Jayson Tatum had 25 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in his first playoff game since rupturing his right Achilles tendon last season, and the Boston Celtics rolled past the Philadelphia 76ers 123-91 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series on Sunday.
Jaylen Brown scored 26 points and Neemias Queta added 13 for the second-seeded Celtics.
Tatum scored 21 points in the first half, playing in just his 17th game this season following surgery last May to repair his Achilles tendon.
“I’m still rehabbing,” Tatum said. “I still attack rehab every single day except for when we have off days. ... Still trying to ramp up.”
Boston never trailed, building a 35-point lead as coach Joe Mazzulla gave minutes to 12 players. The Celtics connected on 16 3-pointers.
“That was Celtics basketball,” Brown said. “We’ve been the harder-playing team all year. That can’t change now that the playoffs have started.”
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Boston.
Tyrese Maxey had 21 points and eight assists for the 76ers, who played without Joel Embiid . The 2023 MVP continues to recover following an appendectomy on April 9. It's unclear when he will be able to return.
Paul George scored 17 points and V.J. Edgecombe added 13. Philadelphia was 4 of 23 from 3-point range.
Maxey was hounded by a Celtics defense that contested 12 of his 14 shot attempts in the first half and held him to 8 of 20 from the field.
Philadelphia’s 64-46 halftime deficit was its largest in a playoff game against Boston since 1982. Coach Nick Nurse called the Sixers' effort “absolutely unacceptable.”
“We just didn't do enough at either end to settle into the game,” he said.
Tatum had 10 first-quarter points, punctuated with an emphatic two-handed dunk, to help the Celtics end the period with a 33-18 lead.
Philadelphia struggled at the outset to keep pace with Boston’s shooting, making one of its first nine attempts from 3. The Sixers also had issues keeping Boston out of the paint after Embiid's understudies, Adem Bona and Andre Drummond , each picked up two quick fouls.
That prompted Nurse to bring in Dominick Barlow , who played just 10 minutes in Philadelphia's play-in victory over Orlando.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
PHIAB A. Bona
AD A. Drummond
DB D. Barlow
DT D. Terry
JE J. Edwards
JW J. Walker
KO K. Oubre Jr.
PG P. George
QG Q. Grimes
TM T. Maxey
TW T. Watford
VE V. Edgecombe
BOSBS B. Scheierman
DW D. White
HG H. González
JB J. Brown
JT J. Tatum
JW J. Walsh
LG L. Garza
NQ N. Queta
NV N. Vučević
PP P. Pritchard
RH R. Harper Jr.
SH S. Hauser
VU Vucevic
PHI/BOS the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur