Activating a collective attack, the Boston Celtics moved past the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 3, 114-102, to place the Eastern Conference Semifinals momentum back to them on Friday.
In the night where Joel Embiid accepted his MVP trophy in front of the jam-packed Wells Fargo Center, Boston infiltrated the Philadelphia party and went on to rain a stunner to go up 2-1 on the best-of-seven series.
Six Celtics players churned double-digit scoring led by Jayson Tatum’s 27 points and 10 boards. Jaylen Brown finished with 23 points and seven boards.
Al Horford had 17 points and seven boards while being on target with 5-of-7 treys. Per StatMuse, the 36-year-old veteran big is the oldest center in a playoff game to etch 5+ three-pointers.
With 3:51 minutes left in regulation, the Sixers managed to pull themselves closer against the C’s after trailing by as much as 13 markers in courtesy of a tip by Joel Embiid to make it a four-point game, 100-96. But it was Horford who spoiled them on the succeeding play, draining a huge three off a Malcolm Brogdon assist for a 103-96 card.
From the remaining moments, Jayson Tatum went on to take over, delivering big time shots and led the C’s in a commanding direction over the 76ers. The star forward outscored the entire Philly team, 7-6, in the final three minutes of the fourth frame to ice the victory (h/t ESPN Stats & Info).
The league MVP in Embiid went off for 30 points, 13 boards and four blocks on a losing effort. Meanwhile, for the second-straight game, James Harden was passive on the floor, ending up with a lowly 16 points and 11 assists in 21 percent shooting.
After exploding for a 45-point masterpiece in 17-of-30 shooting to power the Sixers in the Game 1 dub, the star point man’s offensive production for both Game 2 and 3 were nonexistent, recording 5-of-28 on the two combined matches.
The series’ Game 4 is slated to commence on Sunday.
