3 biggest takeaways for Sixers following Game 7 elimination of Celtics

BOSTON -- The Philadelphia 76ers finally broke through against the Boston Celtics. Despite staring elimination in the face for three straight games along with a lot of history that says they should lose Game 7 on the road on Saturday, the Sixers instead ignored all of it and earned a 109-100 win to eliminate the Celtics in a playoff series for the first time since 1982. Joel Embiid led Philadelphia with 34 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists, Tyrese Maxey had 30 points, seven assists, and 10 rebounds, and VJ Edgecombe had 23 points, six rebounds, and four assists.

Paul George had 13 points on the night. Here are the three biggest takeaways following a Game 7 win over the Celtics: Embiid fights through adversity Embiid's final stat line was gaudy, but the big fella had to fight through a lot of aches and pains to be out there on the floor. He was being stretched out on the bench and checked out by the trainers every timeout so he could finish the game and contribute the way he did.

Embiid played 39 minutes, shot 12-for-26, and was 9-for-11 from the foul line while also grabbing the rebounds and making plays with his passing. When considering this was only his fourth game back following the time off from the appendectomy and he's battling all other sorts of ailments, it was an impressive showing. Coach Nick Nurse stated: "Yeah, I mean, I think he’s, again, the amount of games is still pretty low, right?

These are super intense, pretty quick comebacks, every other day, and get lucky enough to get those three-day breaks come at the start, but yeah. He was doing everything he could to stay in the game, and obviously, we ran a lot of stuff through him. He did just enough.