Joel Embiid bucket on the offensive glass gives the Sixers a five-point lead with 3:34 left in the first half and Boston calls timeout. Sixers have weathered the storm. They need a strong close here.

Dominick Barlow is guarding Jaylen Brown.

Dominick Barlow minutes here.

Payton Pritchard gave Boston its first lead with a three and Joel Embiid missed a jumper, but Quentin Grimes flew in to draw a foul and keep the possession alive. He then scored later in the play, and VJ Edgecombe followed it up with a three. Massive swing play from Grimes.

Boston lands another haymaker. Two-point game. You cannot hear yourself think in here.

Sixers went -6 in 3:48 with Joel Embiid off the floor. Starting lineup is now back on the floor.

VJ Edgecombe for Justin Edwards out of the timeout.

Celtics finally make a run and it is deafening in here. It is an 8-2 push to start the second quarter for Boston, cutting the lead to 34-27. Timeout Nick Nurse.

Sixers to open 2Q: Maxey-Grimes-Edwards-George-Drummond

After one: Sixers 32, Celtics 19. The Sixers have tremendous swagger right now. The Celtics are completely panicking. Joel Embiid: 12 minutes, 10-4-5 Tyrese Maxey: 9 minutes, 4-6-3 Sixers have 13 assists on 15 makes. Boston 7-20 from the field with only one offensive rebound.

Paul George movement three on the first option of the Sixers' ATO. Jordan Walsh miss from the corner. Joel Embiid jumper from the foul line. It is 30-15 Sixers.

God I love watching Kelly Oubre Jr. wait for the right second to cut. Such a fun wrinkle of this offense when it is humming.

Sixers' first 10 baskets were assisted – four by Joel Embiid, six by Tyrese Maxey – before Maxey's unassisted floater. These guys look unbelievable.

Check that: Grimes replaces Paul George, which makes more sense.

Tyrese Maxey picks up his second foul at the 4:39 mark of the first quarter. He was mad about both. He signaled to Nick Nurse to leave him in. Quentin Grimes checking in for Kelly Oubre Jr. as the first sub.

This crowd is TIGHT. I think everybody here has the same feeling.

Nick Nurse's challenge is successful, after the quietest explanation of a replay review I have ever heard. Paul George dives to the floor to earn the Sixers an extra possession.

Nick Nurse furiously calling for a challenge on an out-of-bounds call that Paul George seemed to win for the Sixers with terrific hustle. Have never seen him so animated as Sixers head coach.

A dunk and a scream from Paul George, who puts the Sixers up 6-0. Jaylen Brown throws the ball to... nobody. Boston's bench gets a delay of game. One team is radiating confidence right now, and the other is not.

Celtics move Jaylen Brown onto Tyrese Maxey, who hits Joel Embiid for a jumper at the foul line to start the game. Kelly Oubre Jr. remains on Brown.

The best 11 words in sports: Game 7 of a first-round series between the Sixers and Celtics. We are underway!

Lot of focus (understandably on these major Celtics changes), but I think the absolute best thing that could happen to the Sixers tonight is a decisive, effective start from Joel Embiid. He can set a tremendous tone for the night early on.

Some major changes from Joe Mazzulla. This series very quickly flipped from the Sixers adjusting to match up with Boston to the reverse.

Sixers fans want Boston.

Sixers say Joel Embiid is AVAILABLE. They are at full strength tonight.

Paul George is AVAILABLE, per Sixers.

Nick Nurse says Paul George woke up sick this morning. Still expects him to give it a go.

Obviously, an absolutely tremendous opportunity here for the Sixers with Boston’s best player down for Game 7.

Jayson Tatum is out tonight. Here is what Joe Mazzulla just said about it: www.phillyvoice.com/jayson-tatum...

Just tremendous that the Phillies ended up not having any center fielders available on the same day they decided to start carrying three catchers. As if their fourth bench spot hadn’t been wasted enough!

ICYMI: On VJ Edgecombe, who tonight has a chance to officially take the torch Andrew Toney has been trying to pass since the 1980s. Edgecombe began his rookie season with a historic debut on the TD Garden parquet floor. Now he aims to avoid ending it here: www.phillyvoice.com/sixers-vs-ce...

ICYMI: Wrote about what I'm watching closest heading into Sixers-Celtics Game 7. What tone will Joel Embiid set? Who is the game's likeliest unlikely hero? How should Boston change its coverages of Embiid & how might Nick Nurse respond? Even more inside: www.phillyvoice.com/sixers-vs-ce...

While it seems almost impossible to imagine Jayson Tatum missing a game of this magnitude, he has also been added to the injury report for Sixers-Celtics Game 7. He is questionable with a knee issue: www.phillyvoice.com/jayson-tatum...

The Sixers' two highest-paid players are on the injury report ahead of Game 7 tonight in Boston: www.phillyvoice.com/paul-george-...

FWIW, Paul George was probably the only player I didn’t see on the floor as shootaround closed to the media this morning.

Sixers say Paul George is PROBABLE for Game 7 with an illness.

New: More from Boston, where VJ Edgecombe will take the parquet floor with a chance to top his historic NBA debut & Game 2 eruption. Can Edgecombe keep defying rookie norms to help the Sixers earn their best series win of his lifetime? He "feels the flow." www.phillyvoice.com/sixers-vs-ce...

New: Here's what I'll be watching most closely during Sixers-Celtics Game 7, from wing battles to minutes totals to Joel Embiid's mentality and Jayson Tatum's calf. There's been so much to unpack after six unpredictable games. Let's have fun one more time! www.phillyvoice.com/sixers-vs-ce...

TD Garden is Game 7 ready:

Should be all hands on deck tomorrow night in Boston: www.phillyvoice.com/joel-embiid-...

The Sixers have an injury report for tomorrow's Game 7 @ Boston: Joel Embiid – post appendectomy surgery recovery – PROBABLE

ICYMI: As the Sixers’ Game 6 rout neared completion, Joel Embiid left the bench during a timeout. Embiid stood by the foul line, just looking around. For 30 seconds, he smiled and he nodded — his first appearance of genuine satisfaction in years. One more win: www.phillyvoice.com/sixers-vs-ce...

New: Put together a batch of the best and most telling highlights from the Sixers' Game 6 win and included a bunch of quotes from last night's postgame scene. It should be an awfully fun game to relive, I would think! www.phillyvoice.com/sixers-news-...

New: The Sixers win and lose as a team. But in Game 6, it was all about the three players this was supposed to be about all along. On Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey’s brilliant games — and the “unbelievable opportunity” awaiting them in Game 7: www.phillyvoice.com/sixers-vs-ce...

Paul George says that when he came to Philadelphia, he told Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey that he would get the stops the team needed and had no problem being a third option. “It’s a joy and a pleasure to watch Tyrese get better and Joel out there healthy.”

Paul George: “If we keep stacking wins like this, man… who knows what we will be?”

Kelly Oubre Jr. with an unreal line when asked about the Sixers’ defense earlier: “At the end of the day, man, I like white rice, and I'm just trying to be the white on the rice.”

Celtics sign free agent Jim Miller who shoots 5-for-8 from 3 in Game 7

Tyrese Maxey says Game 7 will not be about the X’s and O’s, but the Jims and Joes.

“We’re not a normal seven seed,” Kelly Oubre Jr. said, “obviously.”