NBA · Eastern Conference First Round

Celtics fall to 76ers in Game 7, eliminated in first round

Philadelphia became the 14th team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 series deficit, beating Boston 109-100 in Game 7 at TD Garden.

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics’ 2026 playoff run is over. The Philadelphia 76ers won Game 7 of the Eastern Conference first-round series 109-100 at TD Garden Saturday night, completing a comeback from a 3-1 series deficit and ending Boston’s postseason in the opening round.

It is only the 14th time in NBA playoff history that a team has rallied from down 3-1 to win a series, and the first time it has happened to the Celtics in the modern era. Philadelphia advances to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

How Boston’s shooting defined the series

Boston’s identity all season was built on volume three-point shooting. The 76ers’ defense made the Celtics live on that volume — and Boston’s shot did not fall when it needed to. In Game 7, the Celtics finished 13-of-49 from beyond the arc, the third straight game in which their three-point efficiency dragged. That problem was the headline of the series, and the headline of the loss.

The full series

The series began with Boston taking three of the first four games and looking like a clear favorite to advance. Philadelphia’s response — winning three straight against an opponent that had been the No. 1 seed in the East for stretches of the regular season — is the kind of result that gets revisited every year as long as the playoffs are played.

What the loss means

For Boston, this is a substantially earlier exit than expected entering the postseason. The Celtics were a championship-caliber team on paper. The roster questions that come out of a first-round loss are different in tone and urgency than the ones that follow a Conference Finals exit, and the team’s offseason will be one of the most-watched in the league.

Worcester reaction

Across central Massachusetts, the Celtics fan base extends well beyond the I-95 ring around Boston, and Worcester — a 50-minute drive from TD Garden on a good night — feels these losses sharply. With both the Celtics and Bruins now eliminated from the postseason, attention in Worcester quickly shifts to Polar Park, where the WooSox are in the middle of a long homestand to open May.