76ers stun Celtics, set up Knicks playoff showdown

The playoffs just lost one of their biggest favorites, and the shockwave runs straight through Boston.

Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers knocked out the second-seeded Celtics, flipping the bracket and rewriting the shape of the NBA postseason. The result sends Philadelphia into a second-round series against the New York Knicks, a matchup that now carries even more weight after the fall of a team many viewed as a serious contender.

Philadelphia’s breakthrough lands because of who it came against. Boston did not just lose a series; it lost control of a postseason path that looked built for a deep run. Reports indicate the Celtics entered with the expectations that follow elite seeding and contender status, but the 76ers turned that pressure into an exit.

The 76ers did more than advance — they ripped a championship favorite out of the bracket.

The next chapter now shifts to a second-round battle with the Knicks, a series that promises a different kind of intensity. With Boston out, the Eastern Conference picture opens wider, and Philadelphia suddenly looks less like a dangerous outsider and more like a team with a clear chance to keep climbing. That change matters not only for the 76ers, but for every team left standing.

What happens next will define whether this upset stands as a headline or a turning point. If Philadelphia carries this momentum into the Knicks series, the Celtics’ elimination will look like the moment the conference truly cracked open. For now, one fact stands above the rest: the 76ers seized their opening, and the playoffs will not look the same again.