Celtics Stave Off 76ers, Win Game 3 114-102

The Boston Celtics took down the Philadelphia 76ers 114-102, going up 2-1 in the series. On Joel Embiid’s big night, the Celtics played spoiler, constantly hitting big shots and forcing empty possessions to keep the Sixers at arm’s length.

The Celtics came out red hot from three, but cooled down as the night progressed, ending at 35.6% on 45 attempts as a team. Still, the high volume of threes and rapid ball movement off drive and kicks proved too much for the 76ers to overcome. They also hit timely shots multiple times when Philadelphia cut the lead within five. Two tough buckets from Jayson Tatum with under three minutes to go all but sealed the game.

Joe Mazzulla wasn’t surprised his team took care of business in this tough road environment. “They’ve been here before,” he said following the game. “The way they communicate in time outs, the way they communicate with each other during the game, those guys have a togetherness and connectivity.”

Tatum and Jaylen Brown led the way on offense, finishing with 27 and 23 points respectively. Al Horford also had his best performance of the series, backing up his pregame talk by shooting 5/7 from three.

One of the most impactful Celtics finished with 0 points, but played gritty defense on Joel Embiid when called upon. Grant Williams, who accidentally got his head bashed into the hardwood, was outstanding tonight. Though the Celtics sent plenty of double teams at Embiid, Williams held his own in 1-on-1 play and slowed down the newly-crowned MVP.

Williams, just a minute after receiving medical attention on the Celtics bench, checked back into the game with 4:07 to go. The aftermath of the injury was gruesome, but his toughness wasn’t a shock to Joe Mazzulla.

“He can handle it,” he said.

On the Philadelphia side, Joel Embiid put on a show. Though his conditioning clearly is a work in progress, his fluidity on offense was a night and day difference from Game 2. He recorded 30 points and 4 blocks to go with 13 rebounds.

Outside of him, Philadelphia’s best players did not answer the call, especially James Harden. The Sixers got timely buckets from role players — namely PJ Tucker, De’Anthony Melton, and Georges Niang — but they can’t expect to win games if Harden is this indecisive and careless with the basketball going forward. Harden saved face at the end with two field goals, but he shot just 3/14 overall and had five turnovers.

The Celtics didn’t put their best foot forward on offense, but the intensity from Game 2 absolutely carried over to Game 3 — a great sign given how hard Philadelphia played tonight.

When asked about what he expects in Game 4, Mazzulla kept it simple: “An absolute war.”

Game 4 is on Sunday at 3:30 P.M.