Boston Celtics book their place in NBA Eastern Conference finals

Jayson Tatum caught a pass underneath the basket, shook off a hit and went up for the go-ahead layup with 23 seconds left and 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, which will play Cleveland for the second straight year for a spot in the NBA finals.

Al Horford (right) of the Boston Celtics celebrates their progress to the Eastern NBA finals

Jayson Tatum scored 25 points - including the match-clincher - as they defeated the 76ers

Jaylen Brown (left), Marcus Smart (middle) and Terry Rozier of the Celtics celebrate the win

Tatum celebrates the Celtics' passage to another finals series against the Cleveland Cavaliers

Game One is Sunday in Boston.

Embiid had 27 points and 12 rebounds for the 76ers, who roared back into the play-offs for the first time since 2012, winning won 20 out of 21 games before Boston beat them three straight times to open the conference semi-finals. 

Dario Saric had 27 points and 10 rebounds, and Ben Simmons added 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Embiid had a chance to tie it after Tatum made it 111-109 with 18.8 seconds left. But he missed a heavily contested layup, failed to tip it back in and then grabbed that rebound, too. Rozier knocked the ball out of his hands, off his leg and out of bounds with 10.8 seconds left.

Terry Rozier leaps to dunk on a night when his 17 points proved crucial for the Celtics

Celtics forward Marcus Morris takes a tumble and lands on Dario Saric of the 76ers

Tatum carves his way through the 76ers defence to score during an impressive performance

A scramble for the ball as Al Horford of the Celtics tries to guide it towards the hoop

Joel Embiid, who took to the court in a protective mask, dunks for two points 

Rozier made a pair of free throws to make it 113-109 - eight straight points for Boston. J.J. Reddick's 3-pointer cut the deficit to one.

Marcus Smart missed his first free-throw attempt and appeared to try to miss the second, too - to force the Sixers to bring the ball up the court with the clock running - but the ball went in. 

Philadelphia's full-court inbounds pass was intercepted by Smart, and he threw the ball in the air to run out the clock.

Celtics guard Jaylen Brown, who scored 24 points on the night, celebrates after a 3-pointer

Marcus Smart whips up the crowd at the TD Garden as the Celtics reached the Eastern finals

Philadelphia's Robert Covington reacts after being penalised for a foul during Game Five

Aron Baynes leaps to dunk having escaped the attentions of the Philadelphia defence

Dario Saric is blocked from shooting by a combination of Aron Baynes and Al Horford

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.

The Celtics scored the last eight points of the first half, including 3-pointers by Baynes and one by Rozier at the buzzer, to open a 61-52 lead. Philadelphia closed the third quarter on a 21-5 run to make it a one-point game.

 

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