Boston Celtics take Sixers best, come away with 102-94 Game 3 win

Despite their best effort yet against the Boston Celtics, a flailing Philadelphia 76ers franchise simply didn’t have the horses to put their Atlantic Division rivals away.

The Boston Celtics showed up ready to put the Philadelphia 76ers away in Game 3 of their first-round series, winning the tip and scoring first via shooting guard Jaylen Brown, a look of determination unmistakable on their faces.

Brown would follow that up with a telegraph-passed dunk from point guard  Kemba Walker, but old friend Al Horford got the Sixers on the board with an early trip to the line. The Cal-Berkeley product bought his own trip to the line on a 3-point shot, very aggressive early.

Boston kept the pressure on, jumping out to a 9-4 lead, but Joel Embiid got himself to the line several times, cutting the lead to as low as two points. Forward Jayson Tatum and Walker began to heat up from the perimeter however, pushing the lead back to 17-10 with just under seven minutes left in the frame.

A Romeo Langford slam and another Walker trey pushed the lead to nine. Defensive lapses and an Embiid 3 cut the lead to 24-18. Horford and Tobias Harris getting to the line would cut the lead to two. Tatum picked up his third foul in the final seconds of of the first, with the Celtics taking a 26-24 lead into the second.

The second quarter started with Embiid draining an elbow jumper in Enes Kanter’s face to tie it up at 26, and Marcus Smart collided hard with Embiid on a screen. The disastrous sequence continued as Brad Wanamaker traveled, and Alec Burks gave the Sixers their first lead with a jumper.

Kanter answered right back to tie it again, and then did it again on the next play to retake the lead. The two teams traded blows until the Celtics started to get some separation with a trip for Wanamaker to the line to put the score at 41-36 Boston with six minutes left in the frame.

Center Daniel Theis took a head hit from Embiid, but Brown would hit back with a trey, but one in return from Josh Richardson and a Horford layup cut the lead to three. A Brown transition jam pushed the lead to 51-46, but an Embiid and-1 cut the lead to two going into the break.

The Celtics started the penultimate frame with a jumper from Smart, but Shake Milton got himself to the line, converting both. The two teams went back and forth, Richardson cutting it to one from the line, and Embiid taking the lead from the stripe as well on the next play.

Walker took it right back with a jumper, hitting a trey on the next play, pushing the lead to 63-56. The Sixers fought back though, with Harris tying it up at 63 from the charity stripe, Philly showing as much fight as they have at any point in the series.

Grant Williams went on a 5-0 mini-run to put Boston up 72-65. Philadelphia tried to dig out of their hole several times, but the Celtics kept the pressure on and took their lead into the fourth quarter, up 76-72.

The final frame went scoreless until Burks hit with 10:15 left to play, but Walker answered back. Milton tied it up at 78, but Theis pushed the lead to 5 with a jumper, forcing Matisse Thybulle to travel on the other end. Tatum attacked the rookie, scoring with ease and forcing a Philly timeout.

They came out hard, with a 3-point play from Richardson followed by a tip-in and trey from Milton cut the lead to just 1 with six minutes left to play. Brown came back with a soft-touch layup, but Milton took a 90-89 lead for the Sixers with 4:30 left in the game. The Cal-Berkeley product got himself to the line on a 3-pointer, converting them all to wrest back the lead.

A pair of quick, questionable fouls on Theis got the Sixers back in a 92-up tie with Boston, with Philly forcing a shot-clock violation and taking the lead from the stripe. Brown missed an open 3 from the top of the key, but was fouled on the next possession as he laid it up, putting the Celtics up 95-94.

Tatum was fouled on the following play with a disputed clear-path foul to put Boston up two. A signature Walker step-back and a Smart trip to the line sealed the game for the Celtics, a 102-94 win.

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