Boston Celtics-Philadelphia 76ers Game 7 Tip Time, TV Network announced

The Celtics and Sixers will have the NBA stage to themselves on Saturday

Apr 30, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) prepares to take a foul shot against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA — The Boston Celtics have gone from heavy favorites in a series most people in both Boston and Philadelphia thought might be a sweep, to 48 minutes away from their season ending, thanks to the Sixers Game 6 win at Xfinity Mobile Arena. 

“Game 7 is a game amongst itself,” Jaylen Brown said after the Game 6 loss. “The rest of the series doesn't matter. It's gonna be who's gonna show up on that day and be the better-performing team. We definitely see some stuff that I know I can improve. Definitely would shift my approach going into Game 7. I'm looking forward to coming out with a great fight."

Now we know when that fight will be. The NBA announced late Thursday night that the Celtics and Sixers will play at 7:30 Saturday night, and the game will air on NBC and Peacock.

NBA

There were a few different windows for this game, but the Celtics got the prime time spot because both the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks ended their series with Game 6 wins. With the Celtics the only team left to play on Saturday, they picked up the prime spot.

The Celtics got here by winning Game 1 at home pretty easily, but they struggled to hit shots in Game 2 and lost. They went to Philadelphia and squeaked out a win in Game 3, and blew the Sixers out in Game 4, setting themselves up for a closeout game at home. 

But Game 5 was a bit of a disaster, and Game 6 wasn’t much different, with the Celtics offense has devolved into an isolation mess, which has put the Celtics in a disappointing position to be on the bring of elimination to a seventh seed. Jayson Tatum, however, is taking things in stride. 

“You can't wish for it to be over any sooner than it is going to be,” he said. “I’ve played 130 some-odd playoff games … I was out for 50 weeks. I wasn't able to play basketball. So I get another opportunity to play the game that I love that I had to be sidelined (from) for 10 1/2 months. So obviously you want to win every game that you play, but it doesn't always go like that. But more so just kind of thankful that we have another opportunity. We have another chance to make it right.”

Tatum was seen trying to work through some stiffness in his left leg after the third quarter, and he had an ice pack on his calf in the locker room, but he says he’ll be alright. 

“I expect to play,” Tatum said, noting the issue is his left leg, not the right one that was injured a year ago. “I wasn't like overly concerned. I came out at four minutes like I was supposed to and just kind of assessed the game. And they took the starters out fairly early in the fourth quarter. So yeah, it was not like that big of a deal.”