Celtics defeat Sixers in one of the wildest NBA endings ever seen

One of the wildest finishes to an NBA game has sent the basketball world into meltdown with fans in disbelief over what unfolded.

Philly were so close to pulling it off

NBA fans are being treated to some utter chaos following the All-Star break.

After the Los Angeles Clippers and Sacramento Kings battled it out in a bonkers contest on Saturday, fans didn’t get a long break before more carnage unfolded.

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The Clippers and Kings put on the second-highest scoring contest in the history of the game, in a battle that went all the way into double overtime.

On Sunday it was insanity that unfolded inside Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia as the 76ers took on the Boston Celtics.

In a battle of two top teams in the Eastern Conference, it went right down to the wire and no that isn’t just a figure of speech. The game was decided by fractions of a second.

With a little over five seconds left on the clock and the scores tied up at 107-107, the Celtics inbounded the ball where Marcus Smart found MVP candidate Jayson Tatum.

Tatum stopped on a dime and rose up from beyond the arc to bury the three and put the Celtics in the drivers seat.

Without a time-out up their sleeve, the Sixers inbounded the ball to fellow MVP candidate Joel Embiid and with only 1.7 seconds to operate, the towering Embiid took one dribble before launching a one-handed heave from inside the opposite three-point line.

The ball sailed through the air before hitting nothing but the bottom of the net. The Philly crowd exploded as the shot would have tied it up and sent the game into overtime.

Sadly it wasn’t to be as replays showed the ball was still in Embiid’s hand as the final buzzer went off. A few more fractions of a second and the outcome would have been different.

WHAT AN ENDING IN PHILLY 😱

TATUM HITS FROM 3. EMBIID'S SHOT FROM 3/4 COURT IS AFTER THE BUZZER

CELTICS WIN pic.twitter.com/TKrrTYHQzI

— NBA (@NBA) February 26, 2023

The utterly absurd ending sent the basketball world wild as reporters and players were left in disbelief over what they’d just witnessed unfold.

Celtics reporter Marc D’Amico wrote: “WHAT IN THE HELL JUST HAPPENED IN PHILADELPHIA!? THAT WAS PURE INSANITY!!!”

NBA journalist Marc Stein wrote: “Just count it anyway. Degree Of Difficulty rule.”

ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne wrote: “I literally cannot believe that ending. Tatum with the game winning 3, but then Embiid swishing the 65-footer .2 too late. What a game.”

AP’s Tim Reynolds wrote: “My goodness.”

ESPN Australia’s Steve Smith wrote: “Oh my f***ing goddddd it gets waved off.”

NO WAY!!!!

— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) February 26, 2023

Crazy ending to that game.

— Robert Covington (@Holla_At_Rob33) February 26, 2023

Two MVP candidates and two insane shots in the clutch.. 🤯

— Justin Anderson (@JusAnderson1) February 26, 2023

The win hands the Celtics the 3-0 advantage over the Sixers in the regular season and keeps them atop the Eastern Conference with a 44-17 record.

The Sixers now sit four games behind in third place at 39-20 with the Milwaukee Bucks stuck in between the two.

Tatum spoke after the finish in a game that saw him end with 18 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.

“I told my teammates coming out of that timeout, game time,” Tatum said on ESPN.

“Find a way to win the game. I wasn’t playing my best, but just trying to impact winning on both ends and find a way.”

When asked about Embiid’s three-quarter court heave that almost tied it up, Tatum said he didn’t watch it unfold.

“I turned around, I didn’t even want to see it. It’s the NBA where amazing happens so I’m glad it didn’t count.”

Originally published as Celtics defeat Sixers in one of the wildest NBA endings ever seen