BOSTON — With the Celtics hosting a winner-take-all matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, Jaylen Brown made it known he wanted way more out of Boston’s home crowd.
And the Celtics star got exactly what he hoped for in the Game 7 showdown.
Whether it was the urging from Brown or just the nature of the event, the Celtics played in front of a raucous fan base from the opening tip in their 112-88 lopsided victory over the 76ers at TD Garden. The crowd created a frenzy environment with massive ovations for seemingly every made basket and deafening boos for obvious slip-ups by the officiating crew.
The sights and sounds were certainly much more to Brown’s liking as he thought the fans gave the Celtics a vital lift to outlast the 76ers and advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
“I called the Garden out last game and way to respond,” Brown said. “The energy in the building was through the roof. It was amazing. Everybody that was in the building, and anybody that was cheering for the Celtics, I feel like we could feel that energy tonight and it definitely carried over. So, we’re going to definitely need some more of that going forward. That was fun. That was a great basketball environment.”
The energy from the crowd hit its peak in the third quarter when the Celtics outscored the 76ers, 33-10, in the frame to blow things open. There was a thunderous roar each time Jayson Tatum, who finished with an incredible 51 points, splashed in one of his four 3-pointers in the quarter.
With the Garden rocking and showering Tatum in adulation, he fully invested himself in the moment, letting out celebratory screams as he and the fans erupted together.
“I have to give a lot of credit to the crowd,” Tatum said. “We needed that. This is probably the loudest the Garden’s been in like a year. We fed of that energy. The energy that gave us today really helped us. And we’re going to need that the rest of the way. They feed off us, we feed off them. You could just feel it. The building was rocking. Everybody was standing up. My emotions kind of got the best of me in that moment in a good way.”
