The NBA is on hiatus as we all take care of ourselves during this pandemic, but that does not mean that basketball stops. Strat-O-Matic has everybody taken care of as they are simulating the NBA Playoffs as scheduled to try and fill that void left by the game’s absence.
For the Philadelphia 76ers, they are the 6 seed in the playoffs and are taking on their arch-rival, the Boston Celtics in Round 1. The Sixers shocked some people when they went into the TD Garden and took Game 1, but Boston answered back to take Game 2 behind a big night from Gordon Hayward. With the series shifting to the Wells Fargo Center, the Sixers were feeling confident.
They used a big third quarter to fuel a 129-104 win over the Celtics in Game 3 and take a 2-1 series lead despite committing 20 turnovers. They outscored Boston 36-21 in the third and the Celtics never got closer as they could not stop Joel Embiid. The big fella had 28 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists to lead the way and Tobias Harris and Al Horford scored 20 points each.
The simulation version of the #Sixers took Game 3 over the Celtics today 129-104 to take a 2-1 series lead. Joel Embiid bounces back from a tough Game 2 to score 28 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 assists, Tobias Harris had 20 and 10, and Al Horford had 20 and 7.
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) April 23, 2020
Josh Richardson added 18 points and seven assists, Ben Simmons had 16 points, 12 assists, and nine rebounds, and Furkan Korkmaz had 11 off the bench. Philadelphia shot 7-for-16 from deep on the night.
After scoring 38 in Game 2, Hayward was limited to 19 points while Boston was led by Kemba Walker with 34 points. The Celtics shot just 7-for-24 from deep and they only tallied 34 rebounds compared to 57 for Philadelphia.
With the series lead now, the Sixers will look to take a 3-1 stranglehold in Game 4 on Saturday before the series shifts back to Boston for Game 5. Considering their road struggles, Saturday feels like it’s going to be a huge game for the Sixers. [lawrence-related id=29928,29912,29902]