Philadelphia 76ers – Boston Celtics · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 1 May 2023

PHI119–115BOS

Is it worth watching?

Recommended

It was more exciting than 76% of NBA games since 2017

· It was still open in the final minutes
· The win probability swung between the two teams 24 times

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ BOS winsPHI wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when BOS leads and falls when PHI does.

This is how the game was decided.

James Harden decided it, the Philadelphia 76ers player with the most points (45, with 1 rebounds and 6 assists; +8 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Tyrese Maxey's (+12). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Boston Celtics 115-119 Philadelphia 76ers (May 1, 2023) was hit by James Harden: a three-pointer with 8.1 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Philadelphia 76ers up 117-115. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Boston Celtics 115-119 Philadelphia 76ers (May 1, 2023) was a 11-0 run by the Boston Celtics in the first quarter (from 6:49 to 4:37), from 13-19 to 24-19. The Philadelphia 76ers' best was a 10-0 run in the second quarter (from 3:06 to 1:29), from 50-62 to 60-62.

▸See where these figures come from

Play: James Harden makes 26-foot three pointer.

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

James Harden decided this game: his points put his team ahead with 8.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 5 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Harden decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

1 May 2023 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401545111:548; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · PHI

Harris · Harden · Reed · Tucker · Melton

Closing lineup · BOS

Tatum · Brown · Smart · Horford · Brogdon

Q1Q2Q3Q4

PHI

Tobias Harris

42′ · 0

James Harden

39′ · +8

Paul Reed

37′ · +8

P.J. Tucker

37′ · +6

Tyrese Maxey

36′ · +12

De'Anthony Melton

25′ · -8

Jalen McDaniels

11′ · -8

Georges Niang

13′ · +2

BOS

Jayson Tatum

44′ · -6

Jaylen Brown

42′ · -2

Marcus Smart

35′ · -7

Al Horford

30′ · -17

Derrick White

27′ · -15

Malcolm Brogdon

34′ · +14

Robert Williams III

20′ · +8

Grant Williams

4′ · +2

Sam Hauser

5′ · +3

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. PHI and BOS.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Philadelphia 76ers

Maxey, Reed, Tucker, Harden, and Harris played 18.0 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 7 points.
Niang, Melton, Maxey, Reed, and Harris played 6.8 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
McDaniels, Maxey, Tucker, Harden, and Harris played 5.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.

Boston Celtics

Brown, Tatum, White, Horford, and Smart played 14.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 18 points.
Brown, Brogdon, Tatum, Horford, and Smart played 11.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Brown, Brogdon, Tatum, Williams, and Smart played 6.0 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 7 points.

▸See every lineup of the game

Philadelphia 76ers

Melton, Reed, Tucker, Harden, and Harris played 4.7 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Melton, McDaniels, Tucker, Harden, and Harris played 2.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 5 points.
Melton, Maxey, Reed, Tucker, and Harden played 2.2 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.
Niang, Melton, McDaniels, Reed, and Harden played 2.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Melton, Maxey, Reed, Harden, and Harris played 1.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Niang, Melton, Reed, Tucker, and Harden played 1.3 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Niang, Melton, Maxey, Tucker, and Harris played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.

Boston Celtics

Brown, Brogdon, Tatum, White, and Williams played 6.0 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.
Brogdon, Tatum, White, Hauser, and Horford played 2.8 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Brown, Brogdon, White, Williams, and Williams played 2.2 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Brown, Brogdon, Williams, Williams, and Smart played 1.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Brogdon, Tatum, White, Williams, and Horford played 1.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 5 points.
Brogdon, Tatum, Williams, Hauser, and Smart played 1.7 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Tobias Harris covered 4.68 km, more than anyone in the game.

Jayson Tatum touched the ball 97 times, a game high.
Jayson Tatum made 65 passes, a game high.
Paul Reed defended 15 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 11.

▸See what was measured for each player

Philadelphia 76ers

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Tobias Harris	4.68	6.3	51	34
Paul Reed	4.54	6.8	38	31
Tyrese Maxey	4.39	6.9	71	45
P.J. Tucker	4.10	6.3	29	26
James Harden	3.93	5.6	94	55
De'Anthony Melton	3.07	7.0	43	32
Georges Niang	1.66	7.0	15	11
Jalen McDaniels	1.43	7.1	7	5

Boston Celtics

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Jayson Tatum	4.62	5.9	97	65
Jaylen Brown	4.41	5.9	58	39
Malcolm Brogdon	3.72	6.1	45	25
Marcus Smart	3.65	5.8	51	38
Al Horford	3.41	6.4	54	42

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2022-23 regular season, not this game.

Philadelphia 76ers

De'Anthony Melton deflected 3.0 passes per game over his 77 games.
He ranks 12 of 382 in the league.
James Harden recovered 0.8 loose balls per game over his 58 games.
He ranks 32 of 382 in the league.
Georges Niang drew 0.12 charges per game over his 77 games.
He ranks 46 of 382 in the league.

Boston Celtics

Jaylen Brown recovered 0.9 loose balls per game over his 67 games.
He ranks 9 of 382 in the league.
Jayson Tatum recovered 0.9 loose balls per game over his 74 games.
He ranks 11 of 382 in the league.
Al Horford contested 10.1 shots per game over his 63 games.
He ranks 15 of 382 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Boston Celtics have won 87 of their 152 games against the Philadelphia 76ers.

87-65record of the Boston Celtics · NBA 1996-97 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

2-2in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 1996-97 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

19.156

102.9% of capacity

TD Garden · Boston

Series

Game 1

Conference semifinals

BOS 4-3

Scoring

234

combined points

14.8 above the season average (219.2)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

25 calls reviewed3 errors admitted by the NBA

Turnover: 3 Second Violation · 00:39.2

Jayson Tatum → 76ers

Tatum (BOS) is in the lane for longer than three seconds.

Foul: Shooting · 01:48.7

James Harden → Jayson Tatum

Harden (PHI) steps forward into Tatum's (BOS) path and makes foot to foot contact with Tatum that affects his shot near the rim.

Foul: Defense 3 Second · 01:56.7

Paul Reed → Celtics

Reed (PHI) fails to fully clear the lane and is in the paint for longer than three seconds without imminently actively guarding an opponent.