Jayson Tatum led the Boston Celtics to a 112-88 game-seven victory over the Philadelphia 76ers to reach the NBA Eastern Conference finals.
Tatum’s 51 points beat the game-seven record of 50 set by Golden State’s Stephen Curry against the Sacramento Kings earlier this month.
He also added 13 rebounds, five assists and a couple of steals.
Boston will now face the Miami Heat – the team they they beat in seven games in last year’s conference finals.
The opening game of the series takes place on Thursday at 01:30 BST.
The Celtics defence restricted NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid, who was held to 15 points.
Jaylen Brown added 25 points for Boston, who broke open a close game in the third quarter as they out-scored the 76ers 33-10.
Philadelphia went six minutes of the period without a basket and trailed by 26 heading into the fourth, when Boston pushed the lead to 30 with less than four minutes to play after Tatum was taken out of the game.
“It felt great,” Tatum told ESPN. “This was a back and forth series. Obviously I didn’t play well the first half of the last game and I was just happy to get an opportunity to bounce back.
“To come back home, game seven on Mother’s Day. I had to put on a special performance for her.”
It was another crushing play-off exit for the 76ers who were led by Tobias Harris’ 19 points, while star guard James Harden scored just nine as they were limited to 37.3% shooting from the floor.
